antiphrasis

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“
His intelligent eyes opened to look out upon the world, to love mankind, then closed again on the cruel secrets of death The friend who presented me with him had given him, perhaps by antiphrasis, the startling name of Pelléas.

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Definitions (4)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. noun The use of a word or phrase in a sense contrary to its normal meaning for ironic or humorous effect, as in a mere babe of 40 years.

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Examples (8)

  • His intelligent eyes opened to look out upon the world, to love mankind, then closed again on the cruel secrets of death The friend who presented me with him had given him, perhaps by antiphrasis, the startling name of Pelléas. —  Our Friend the Dog
  • Now, they were taunted with their very name, as having been bestowed upon them "by antiphrasis," i.e. by contraries. —  Chaucer
  • Latin called bellum, not by antiphrasis, as some patchers of old rusty —  Gargantua and Pantagruel, Illustrated, Book 3
  • The friend who presented me with him had given him, perhaps by antiphrasis, the startling name of Pelléas. —  Our Friend the Dog
  • The jealous mistress was constantly threatening to stab her lover, and he dubbed her Mignonne, by antiphrasis; in memory of her he gave the same name to the panther. —  Repertory of the Comedie Humaine Part 2
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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Late Latin, from Greek, from antiphrazein, to express by the opposite : anti-, anti- + phrazein, to speak; see phrase.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Latin, from Greek ἀντίφρασις, from ἀντιφρα)ζειν, express by antithesis or negation, from ἀντί, against, + φρἀζειν, speak, later φράσις, way of speaking, later English phrase.
 

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/ænˈtɪfrəsɪs/
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