oxymoron
Use Oxymoron in a sentence
sɪˈmɔr noun, plural ox·y·mo·ra [ok-si-mawr-uh, -mohr-uh] , ox·y·mor·ons. Rhetoric.
[ok-si-mawr-uh, -mohr-uh] , ox·y·mor·ons. Rhetoric. a figure of speech by which a locution produces an incongruous, seemingly self-contradictory effect, as in “cruel kindness” or “to make haste slowly.”
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To oxymoron
00:10
Oxymoron
is always a great word to know.
So is flibbertigibbet. Does it mean:
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| a chattering or flighty, light-headed person. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
oxymoron (ˌɒksɪˈmɔːrɒn) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n , pl -mora | |
| rhetoric an epigrammatic effect, by which contradictory terms are used in conjunction: living death; fiend angelical | |
| [C17: via New Latin from Greek oxumōron, from oxus sharp + mōros stupid] | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
oxymoron
1657, from Gk. oxymoron, noun use of neut. of oxymoros (adj.) "pointedly foolish," from oxys "sharp" (see acrid) + moros "stupid." Rhetorical figure by which contradictory terms are conjoined so as to give point to the statement or expression; the word itself is an illustration
of the thing. Now often used loosely to mean "contradiction in terms."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary
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 American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Example sentences
Since an objective perspective is an oxymoron, any inquiry is inherently subjective to begin with.
More universal is an oxymoron, either it is universal or not.
But that was a fallacy, an oxymoron, that everybody knew.
There the confounding oxymoron of being both rather primitive yet extremely complicated.
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