Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Allusion to something by denying that it will be mentioned, as in I will not bring up my opponent's questionable financial dealings.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In rhetoric, denial of an intention to speak of something which is at the same time hinted or insinuated; paralipsis (which see).

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Rhet.) A figure by which a speaker formally declines to take notice of a favorable point, but in such a manner as to produce the effect desired. [For example, see Mark Antony's oration. Shak., Julius Cæsar, iii. 2.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun rhetoric An allusion to something by denying that it will be mentioned

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun mentioning something by saying it will not be mentioned

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Late Latin, from Greek, from apophanai, to say no : apo-, apo- + phanai, to say; see bhā- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek ἀπόφασις (apophasis), via Latin apophasis.

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Examples

Comments

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  • - Seeming to be denying something while actually, really, affirming it.

    - Mentioning by denying mention.

    March 3, 2009

  • "I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him . . ."

    March 3, 2009

  • to leap into mystery

    April 11, 2011

  • In the spiritual tradition, apophasis refers to the process of knowing through unknowing. It can be understood as the deconstruction of knowing. It is the process of "letting go" all understanding and experiencing the Divine directly.

    July 28, 2012

  • News item: Trump Praises Self During, After Debate for Not Bringing Up Bill Clinton’s Infidelity

    The Donald traversed discourtesy's axis

    From casually rude to utterly classless.

    Self-praise for his silences

    On Bill's misalliances

    Is no more than thuggishly crude apophasis.

    September 27, 2016