| 释义 |
‖ oxymoron Rhet.|ɒksɪˈmɔərən|
[a. Gr. ὀξύµωρον, n. use of neuter of ὀξύµωρος pointedly foolish, f. ὀξυ- sharp + µωρός dull, stupid, foolish.]
A rhetorical figure by which contradictory or incongruous terms are conjoined so as to give point to the statement or expression; an expression, in its superficial or literal meaning self-contradictory or absurd, but involving a point. (Now often loosely or erroneously used as if merely = a contradiction in terms, an incongruous conjunction.)
[1640Bp. Reynolds Passions xvii. 186 It was a bold but true ὀξύµωρον of Seneca. Mortibus vivimus.] 1657J. Smith Myst. Rhet. 121 Oxymoron, ὀξύµωρον, Acutifatuum aut stulte acutum, subtilly foolish. a1677Barrow Serm. (1826) VI. 132 Some elegant figures..lofty hyperboles, paranomasies, oxymorons..lie very near upon the confines of jocularity. 1792W. Roberts Looker-On No. 30 (1794) I. 427 These contradictory gentlemen..were thus pressed together in a forced kind of union, like the figure oxymoron. 1890Q. Rev. CLX. 289 Voltaire..we might call, by an oxymoron which has plenty of truth in it, an ‘Epicurean pessimist’. |