oxymoron
a figure of speech by which a locution produces an incongruous, seemingly self-contradictory effect, as in “cruel kindness” or “to make haste slowly.”
Origin of oxymoron
1Other words from oxymoron
- ox·y·mo·ron·ic [ok-see-muh-ron-ik], /ˌɒk si məˈrɒn ɪk/, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
British Dictionary definitions for oxymoron
/ (ˌɒksɪˈmɔːrɒn) /
rhetoric an epigrammatic effect, by which contradictory terms are used in conjunction: living death; fiend angelical
Origin of oxymoron
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for oxymoron
[ (ok-see-mawr-on) ]
A rhetorical device in which two seemingly contradictory words are used together for effect: “She is just a poor little rich girl.”
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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