ThoughtCo. Is it starting to seem like there is an unlimited supply of oxymorons in the English language? A true oxymoron must be deliberately crafted in advance, with the goal of creating a rhetorical effect or revealing a deeper figurative meaning. ", Oxymorons have been used since the days of the ancient Greek poets. Why use phrases that don't seem to make logical sense? 1. a deliberate combination of two words that seem to mean the opposite of each other, such as 'cruel kindness'. Im the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life. An oxymoron term is a literary figure of speech in which opposite or contradictory words, phrases, terms or ideas are combined to create a rhetorical effect by paradoxical means. Seperate words by area of focus. Reading & Writing. It involves pairing words that imply different ideas or meanings next to each other to create a deeper meaning in the context. An oxymoron is a figure of speech words that seem to cancel each other out, like "working vacation" or "instant classic." A paradox makes your brain hurt because it seems like something is true and false at . However, in popular usage oxymoron is sometimes used to mean "contradiction in terms", where the contradiction is unintentional. Let us know and we'll bump the priority. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. Oxymorons can add color, humor, and meaning to language in all sorts of ways. Words that really are opposite to . "100 Awfully Good Examples of Oxymorons." The following example is from Alexander Pope's poem, "Essay on Criticism": The bookful blockhead ignorantly read, With loads of learned lumber in his head, With his own tongue still edifies his ears, And always listning to himself appears. The most recognizable oxymorons are adjective-noun pairs, as in the phrase "proud humility." But oxymorons can also occur over the course of a clause or sentence, as in . Single-Word and Compound Word: Bittersweet, frenemy (friend+enemy), love-hate.Adjective + Noun: Sweet sorrow (made famous by William . Some people mistake pairs of antonyms for oxymorons, but they are not the same. Using the word generator and word unscrambler for the letters O X Y M O R O N, we unscrambled the letters to create a list of all the words found in Scrabble, Words with Friends, and Text Twist. Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more. EnglishClub Home Oxymorons also feature in modern comedy and politics. PDFs of modern translations of every Shakespeare play and poem. However, she lovingly anticipates seeing him again which is a pleasant feeling. Oxymoron: a combination of contradictory words. It's really interesting to see how this figure of speech finds its way into everyday communication. Prepositions of Time at in on Oxymoronic is the adjectival form of oxymoron. paradox. A common oxymoron is the phrase "the same difference." What is an oxymoron? Keep going to discover even more. The use of oxymorathe plural of oxymoronin our day-to-day conversation is not rare. oxymoron. One example of this is when Oscar Wilde comically reflected on the fact that he "can resist anything, except temptation.". These figures of speech can enhance a readers understanding of a concept, interpretation of a phrase, or enjoyment of language. "Poverty is a luxury I can't afford now" is handwritten on a decrepit residential wall. Is this the tiny town from Footloose? It comes from the Greek words, If you're referring to oxymoron in plural, both, The words in an oxymoron don't need to to be glued together, as in "heavy lightness" or "serious vanity." When someone says a phrase such as "clearly confused," the speaker is finding a new way to describe that individual or object. Another major difference between juxtaposition and oxymoron is in their length. You might say "deafening silence" or "oddly normal" or "jumbo shrimp" are oxymorons, because they appear to be contradictory but in fact they make an intriguing kind of s. Oxymoron is made up of two words that are Greek to me. In this example, Nabokov describes Ada, seen through Van's eyes, absorbed in one of her favorite activities: On those relentlessly hot July afternoons, Ada liked to sit on a cool piano stool of ivoried wood at a white-oilcloth'd table in the sunny music room, her favorite botanical atlas open before her, and copy out in color on creamy paper some singular flowerOr else she combined one species with another (unrecorded but possible), introducing odd little changes and twists that seemed almost morbid in so young a girl so nakedly dressed. Nordquist, Richard. Authors and musicians often use oxymorons as a rhetorical device. Also, they often lead the reader to an underlying truth. Writers and poets have used it for centuries as a literary device to describe life's inherent conflicts and incongruities. Starts with o, ends with n, five consonants, three vowels and four syllables. Scrabble point value for oxymoron: 20 points. The couple's relationship becomes a bright spot for both of them in the midst of war, but ultimately also a source of pain and confusion for Jordan, as he struggles to balance his obligation to fight with his desire to live happily by Maria's side. are combined to create a rhetorical effect by paradoxical means. /. An oxymoronis a figure of speech, usually one or two words, in which seemingly contradictory terms appear side by side. Oxymoron. Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oxymoron. Oxymoron Example 2. 'Oxymoron' is the singular form, and 'Oxymora' (or 'Oxymorons') is the plural form. This allows us to group slight variations of the same word. Oxymoronically is the adverbial form of the word. In common usage, a figure of speech is a word or phrase that means something more or something other than it seems to saythe opposite of a literal expression. While the words involved in oxymorons seem like they don't belong together (until you give them deeper thought), the words or ideas of antithesis do feel like they belong together even as they contrast . If one or more words can be unscrambled with all the letters entered plus one new letter, then they will also be displayed. The contradiction contained in "nakedly dressed" echoes the impossibility of the hybrids Ada draws, and more importantly, it expresses both Van's feeling that he can see into her soul despite the clothes covering her body, his yearning for her such that her clothes only suggest to him her body beneath them, and at the same time (because it's an oxymoron and the words contradict) the impossibility of the siblings' relationship. Here are instances in which its effective to use oxymoron in writing: Since most people dont use oxymoron very often when speaking, it does take linguistic skill to create one that is successful. It's also helpful to understand the relationship between oxymoron and paradox. All words/letters without a dedicated page will be unscrambled. Oxymoron can enhance drama in writing. The word oxymoron itself is an oxymoron! An oxymoron is a figure of speech in which two contradictory terms or ideas are intentionally paired in order to make a pointparticularly to reveal a deeper or hidden truth. Oxymoron Quotes. This cascade of oxymorons, placed one after the other, heightens the contrast between Romeo's idea of love and what he's actually experiencing. ThoughtCo, Feb. 16, 2021, thoughtco.com/awfully-good-examples-of-oxymorons-1691814. Find scrabble words by points! Like. Copyright 2023 Literary Devices. Check out the oxymoron definition. Together, these words indicate that Holden takes pride in how adept he is at lyinga behavior that is generally associated with indignity. No it isn't. Actually, it is. Does moron come from oxymoron? Get this guide to Oxymoron as an easy-to-print PDF. If one or more words can be unscrambled with all the letters entered plus one new letter, then they will . Metaphor. I just heard a speech from a Supreme Court Justice where he used the oxymoron "clearly confused" to refer to a prior court decision by a lower court. 100 Examples of Oxymorons . We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. oxymoron, noun : a combination for epigrammatic effect of contradictory or incongruous words. They have an inverted moral code that values "the foul" and dislikes "the fair." For some the term is an oxymoron, used only jokingly when referring to the number of keggers that one manages to get trashed at during a school term. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. This first example is from the play's opening scene and it is part of a charm chanted by witches: Fair is foul, and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air. 4 Answers. Here is a comprehensive list of 64 examples of oxymorons in sentences. An oxymoron is a rhetorical device in which seemingly contradictory or incongruous terms appear in conjunction with each other. Simile. Oxymoron. Oh my God, you have Cabbage Patch! Oxymoron Pronunciation: ahk-si-mo-ronMeaning: A figure of speech in which opposite or contradictory words-ostensibly semantic opposites-are combined to create a rhetorical effect by paradoxical means, e.g. Jul 17, 2017 at 13:23. This would provide a list of words with letters in a specific order, such as the consonants in the order of ntr. Too many uses of oxymoron can be either distracting or tedious for the reader. Quick word find. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. Oxus, which is the first instance of oxy, is of Greek origin and means sharp, while moros, standing for . For example, oxymoron phrases such as marital bliss, military intelligence,andbusiness ethics,depending on how they are used as figures of speech, can be effective literary devices to indicate irony. Numbers Chart 1-100 Therefore, oxymorons are not necessarily mistakes or errors. The phrase original copyis a good illustration of an oxymoron. Here's a good one: Literary Devices | Literary Terms. Britannica Dictionary definition of OXYMORON [count]: a combination of words that have opposite or very different meanings. That might be a bit of an exaggeration, but there are certainly more than just a few. Answer (1 of 9): Google "literary devices list with examples". For even more examples of oxymorons in sentences, take a look at these examples of funny oxymoron quotes. The album's recording took place from June 2012 through 2013. ra (-mr) A rhetorical figure in which incongruous or contradictory terms are combined, as in a deafening silence and a mournful optimist. Shakespeare has purposefully created this contradiction to capture the deeper truth of the simultaneous pain and joy of departing from a loved onehe's trying to communicate that being separated from your beloved is painful and yet, precisely because it's painful, parting reminds you of your love and joy. The word 'Oxymoron' is originally derived from the Greek elements: oxy = sharp and moros (moron) = dull (foolish). Oxymorons are often used poetically as a way of bringing out a fresh meaning in a word or phrase. Oxymoron is a figure of speech pairing two words together that are opposing and/or contradictory. However, its important that writers dont overuse oxymoron as a literary device. The word "oxymoron" is derived from Greek a combination of oxy- meaning keen or sharp and -mrs meaning dull or foolish. Delivered to your inbox! As shown by this list of 100 awfully good examples, oxymorons are also part of our everyday speech. Click these words to find out how many points they are worth, their definitions, and all the other words that can be made by unscrambling the letters from these words. Both the concept of honor and dishonor and the phrase "falsely true" are examples of oxymoron. It gives you several to choose from. oxymoron. Words with Friends point value for oxymoron: 20 points. An oxymoron is a figure of speech that deliberately uses two contradictory ideas. That's what I did just now. On top of establishing the witches' cruelty, the line is also a signal to the audience to be on guard throughout the playa warning that characters who seem fair may be foul, and vice versa. Allscrabblewords.com is not affiliated with SCRABBLE, Mattel, Spear, Hasbro, Zynga, or the Words with Friends games in any way. Therefore, Salinger cleverly calls into question Holdens reliability as a narrator through just this figure of speech. This page was last updated on March 01, 2023. As the example's author, Richard Watson Todd, said, "The true beauty of oxymorons is that, unless we sit back and really think, we happily accept them as normalEnglish. Oxymoron is a 8 letter word, used as a noun, with Latin origins, and has the letters mnooorxy (mnorxy). It's likely you've used, or at least heard, a few oxymorons in your everyday life, even if you didn't realize it at the time. This contradiction creates a paradoxical image in the reader or listener's mind that generates a new concept or meaning for the whole. What is the difference between oxymoron and paradox? One of the most famous examples of the use of oxymorons is the following speech by Romeo from William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet: tags: independent-thought , initiative , oxymoron , paradox. For example, someone might (wrongly) call the phrase "business ethics" an oxymoron, simply to make the claim that business is always unethical. Send a word find feature request to let me know. Monty Oxymoron of The Damned performs supporting Hollywood Vampires at Manchester Arena on June 17, 2018 in Manchester, England. The word "oxymoron" is itself oxymoronic, which is to say contradictory. 3. This statement made by Holden reveals the level of complexity and impact an oxymoron can have as a literary device when it comes to interpretation. Of words with Friends games in any way information on a device like there is unlimited. Or two words, in popular usage oxymoron is a pleasant feeling code that ``! Oxymoron can be unscrambled for centuries as a literary device this would a. 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Color, humor, and meaning to language in all sorts of ways related themes quotes... Word: Bittersweet, frenemy ( friend+enemy ), love-hate.Adjective + noun: Sweet sorrow ( made famous William... N'T seem to make logical sense in your life figures of speech usually. A rhetorical device have opposite or very different meanings info for every quote! And we 'll bump the priority a combination of words with letters in a word find feature to. Not rare or phrase: Sweet sorrow ( made famous by William Zynga, or of... Not rare ; literary Devices list with examples & quot ; falsely &. To oxymoron as a literary device, these words indicate that Holden takes pride in how adept he is lyinga... By paradoxical means adjectival form of oxymoron let us know and we 'll bump the.... Pleasant feeling associated with indignity an inverted moral code that values `` the foul '' and dislikes `` fair... ( mnorxy ) a narrator through just this figure of speech that deliberately uses two contradictory ideas,! Is in their length more examples of funny oxymoron quotes quotes, symbols, characters and. The adjectival form of oxymoron easy-to-print PDF of oxy, is of Greek origin and means sharp, moros! Same word one example of this is when Oscar Wilde comically reflected the. Like LitCharts does saw in your life tedious for the reader to an underlying.. Rhetorical device in which seemingly contradictory or incongruous terms appear side by side the concept of honor and and. Letters mnooorxy ( mnorxy ) and dishonor and the phrase & quot ; falsely true & ;! For every important quote on LitCharts also helpful to understand the relationship between oxymoron and.! Will also be displayed the reader it involves pairing words that imply different ideas or meanings next to each to. Associated with indignity all words/letters without a dedicated page will be unscrambled with all the letters entered plus one letter. Allscrabblewords.Com is not affiliated with SCRABBLE, Mattel, Spear, Hasbro Zynga... More than just a few is in their length the fact that he `` can resist anything except... Of modern translations of every Shakespeare play and poem a comprehensive list of awfully. For Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development a device just few... Would provide a list of words with Friends games in any way pride in how adept he is lyinga!
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