oxymoron
English
Etymology
First attested in the 17th century, noun use of 5th century Latin oxymōrum (adj), neut. nom. form of oxymōrus (adj),[1] from Ancient Greek ὀξύμωρος (oxúmōros), compound of ὀξύς (oxús, “sharp, keen, pointed”)[2] (English oxy-, as in oxygen) + μωρός (mōrós, “dull, stupid, foolish”)[3] (English moron (“stupid person”)). Literally "sharp-dull", "keen-stupid", or "pointed-foolish"[4] – itself an oxymoron, hence autological; compare sophomore (literally “wise fool”), influenced by similar analysis. The compound form ὀξύμωρον (oxúmōron) is not found in the extant Ancient Greek sources.[5]
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "UK" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ɒksɪˈmɔːɹɒn/
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "US" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. enPR: äk-sē-môrʹ-än, äk-sĭ-môrʹ-än, IPA(key): /ˌɑksiˈmɔɹɑn/, /ɑksɪˈmɔɹɑn/
Audio (US): (file) Audio (AU): (file)
Noun
oxymoron (plural oxymorons or oxymora)
Examples (rhetoric) |
---|
William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet (c. 1591–1595) |
- (rhetoric) A figure of speech in which two words or phrases with opposing meanings are used together intentionally for effect.
- 1996, John Sinclair, "Culture and Trade: Some Theoretical and Practical Considerations", in Emile G. McAnany, Kenton T. Wilkinson (eds.), Mass Media and Free Trade: NAFTA and the Cultural Industries, University of Texas Press
- For Theodor Adorno and his colleagues at the Frankfurt School who coined the term, "culture industry" was an oxymoron, intended to set up a critical contrast between the exploitative, repetitive mode of industrial mass production under capitalism and the associations of transformative power and aesthetico-moral transcendence that the concept of culture carried in the 1940s, when it still meant "high" culture.
- (loosely, sometimes proscribed) A contradiction in terms.
Usage notes
- Historically, an oxymoron was "a paradox with a point",[6] or "pointedly foolish: a witty saying, the more pointed from being paradoxical or seemingly absurd" at first glance.[4] Its deliberate purpose was to underscore a point or to draw attention to a concealed point. The common vernacular use of oxymoron as simply a contradiction in terms is considered incorrect by some speakers and writers, and is perhaps best avoided in certain contexts.
Antonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
figure of speech
|
contradiction in terms — see contradiction in terms
See also
References
- ^ “oxymōrus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ “ὀξύς”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ “μωρός”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 “ὀξύμωρος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ OED
- ^ Jebb, Sir Richard (1900). Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments, with critical notes, commentary, and translation in English prose. Part III: The Antigone. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Further reading
- Oxymoron on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- Lee’s Complete Oxymoron List, with discussion of classification (archive)
French
Noun
oxymoron m (plural oxymorons)
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂eḱ-
- English 4-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English nouns with irregular plurals
- en:Rhetoric
- English terms with quotations
- English proscribed terms
- en:Paradoxes
- English autological terms
- English oxymorons
- en:Figures of speech
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French masculine nouns