单词 | oxymoron |
释义 | oxymoron (once / 53970 pages) n Jumbo shrimp? Open secret? Use oxymoron to refer to a word or phrase that contradicts itself, usually to create some rhetorical effect. When Shakespeare's Juliet says, "Parting is such sweet sorrow," she is using an oxymoron; her apparently self-contradictory turn of phrase actually makes a neat kind of sense. Oxymoron is sometimes used to describe a word combination that strikes the listener as humorously contradictory, even if the speaker didn't intend it that way — perhaps the most famous example is "military intelligence." The word oxymoron is itself an oxymoron; in Greek, oxy- means "sharp" or "wise," while moros means "foolish." WORD FAMILYoxymoron: oxymora, oxymorons USAGE EXAMPLESAnd the poor survivor — not an oxymoron here — will catch hell just for being alive. New York Times(Dec 14, 2016) Liberals often dismiss “rightwing feminism” as an oxymoron because it focuses on individual achievement over structural change. The Guardian(Dec 09, 2016) “And somehow make it feel very grounded and real–like a realistic musical? Or is that an oxymoron?” Time(Dec 01, 2016) n conjoining contradictory terms (as in `deafening silence') Hyper figure, figure of speech, image, trope language used in a figurative or nonliteral sense |
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