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Litotes Definition

litotes

Contents

English

Wikipedia has an article on: Litotes

Pronunciation

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Etymology

From Ancient Greek λιτότης (litotēs) from λιτός (litos, “simple”).

Noun

litotes (uncountable)

  1. (rhetoric) A figure of speech in which the speaker emphasizes the magnitude of a statement by denying its opposite; a figure of speech in which understatement is used with negation to express a positive attribute; a form of irony
Examples (figure of speech)
  • She's not the nicest person I know (to indicate meanness)
  • He's not exactly a rocket scientist (to indicate lack of intelligence)
  • Organizing these records is no small task (to indicate difficulty)
  • Not bad (that is to say, good)

Related terms

See also

Anagrams

French

Noun

litotes f.

  1. Plural form of litote.

 

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