oxymoron - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

ox·y·mo·ron

Audio Help [ok-si-mawr-on, -mohr-] Pronunciation Key

–noun, plural -mo·ra

Audio Help [-mawr-uh, -mohr-uh] Pronunciation Key. 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.”

[Origin: 1650–60; < LL oxymorum < presumed Gk *oxýmōron, neut. of *oxýmōros sharp-dull, equiv. to oxý(s) sharp (see oxy-¹) + mōrós dull (see moron)

]

—Related forms

ox·y·mo·ron·ic

Audio Help [ok-see-muh-ron-ik] Pronunciation Key, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
oxymoron

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

ox·y·mo·ron Audio Help (ŏk'sē-môr'ŏn', -mōr'-) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. ox·y·mo·ra (-môr'ə, -mōr'ə) or ox·y·mo·rons
A rhetorical figure in which incongruous or contradictory terms are combined, as in a deafening silence and a mournful optimist.

[Greek oxumōron, from neuter of oxumōros, pointedly foolish : oxus, sharp; see oxygen + mōros, foolish, dull.]

ox'y·mo·ron'ic (-mə-rŏn'ĭk) adj., ox'y·mo·ron'i·cal·ly adv.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
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."

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

oxymoron
noun
conjoining contradictory terms (as in 'deafening silence')

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
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.”

[Chapter:] Conventions of Written English

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Oxymoron

Ox`y*mo"ron\, n. [NL., fr. Gr. ???, fr. ??? pointedly foolish; ??? sharp + ??? foolish.] (Rhet.) A figure in which an epithet of a contrary signification is added to a word; e. g., cruel kindness; laborious idleness.

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