litotes
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Providing an instance of litotes, a former English teacher of mine once remarked, "I would not say that he was the dullest of scientists."
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American Heritage Dictionary (1)
- noun A figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite, as in This is no small problem.
Century Dictionary (1)
GNU Webster's 1913 (1)
WordNet (1)
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Providing an instance of litotes, a former English teacher of mine once remarked, "I would not say that he was the dullest of scientists."
— VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol XII No 1 -
Slang is sometimes characterized by understatement -- litotes, if you want the literary term for the device.
— VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol IX No 1 -
Yet most of it is poetic -- at least in the sense that it makes greater than ordinary use of poetical devices like litotes, hyperbole, and, above all, metaphor.
— VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol IX No 1 -
Wot, no distinction between meiosis and litotes, or iambus and spondee?
— VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol VIII No 3 -
(they will confuse these two), ellipsis ... probably oxymoron, onomatopoeia, hyperbole, and litotes, too.
— VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol XII No 1
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View all »Etymologies (3)
American Heritage Dictionary (1)
- Greek lītotēs, from lītos, plain; see lei- in Indo-European roots.
Century Dictionary (1)
GNU Webster's 1913 (1)
WordNet
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Pronunciations
/ (līˈtə-tēzˌ, lĭtˈə-, lī-tōˈtēz)/
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American Heritage Dictionary