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oxymoron

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Oxymoron and oxymóron

English

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WOTD – 12 July 2006
 oxymoron on Wikipedia

Etymology

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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

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  • (UK) IPA(key): /ɒksɪˈmɔːɹɒn/
  • (US) enPR: äk-sē-môrʹ-än, äk-sĭ-môrʹ-än, IPA(key): /ˌɑksiˈmɔɹɑn/, /ɑksɪˈmɔɹɑn/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Audio (General Australian):(file)

Noun

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oxymoron (plural oxymorons or oxymora)

Examples
Examples (rhetoric)

William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet (c. 1591–1595)
Parting is such sweet sorrow.

  1. (rhetoric) A figure of speech in which two words or phrases with opposing meanings are used together intentionally for effect.
    • [1835, L[arret] Langley, A Manual of the Figures of Rhetoric, […], Doncaster: Printed by C. White, Baxter-Gate, →OCLC, page 35:
      In Oxymoron jarring phrases join
      And terms opposed in harmony combine.      ]
    • 1996, John Sinclair, “Culture and Trade: Some Theoretical and Practical Considerations”, in Emile G. McAnany, Kenton T. Wilkinson, editors, 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.
  2. (loosely, sometimes proscribed) A contradiction in terms.
    • 2015 April 28, Michael Pollan, “Why ‘Natural’ Doesn’t Mean Anything Anymore”, in The New York Times Magazine‎[1]:
      During the past few years, some 200 class-action suits have been filed against food manufacturers, charging them with misuse of the adjective in marketing such edible oxymorons as “natural” Cheetos Puffs, “all-natural” Sun Chips, “all-natural” Naked Juice, “100 percent all-natural” Tyson chicken nuggets and so forth.
    • 2024 October 31, Matt Egan, “Trump’s former pick to join the Federal Reserve has proposed a radical solution to solve inflation”, in CNN‎[2]:
      “Stable inflation is an oxymoron because it means it’s not stable,” Shelton told CNN in a recent interview.

Usage notes

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  • Historically, an oxymoron was "a paradox with a point".[6] 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

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Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ “oxymōrus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  2. ^ “ὀξύς”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ “μωρός”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ “ὀξύμωρος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ OED
  6. ^ 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

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French

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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oxymoron m (plural oxymorons)

  1. Alternative form of oxymore
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