oxymoron
English
WOTD – 12 July 2006
Etymology
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
Noun
oxymoron (plural oxymorons or oxymora)
- A figure of speech in which two words or phrases with opposing meanings are used together intentionally for effect.
- John Sinclair (1996), "Culture and Trade: Some Theoretical and Practical Considerations", in Emile G. McAnany, Kenton T. Wilkinson (eds.), 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.
- John Sinclair (1996), "Culture and Trade: Some Theoretical and Practical Considerations", in Emile G. McAnany, Kenton T. Wilkinson (eds.), Mass Media and Free Trade: NAFTA and the Cultural Industries, University of Texas Press
- (loosely, sometimes proscribed) A contradiction in terms.
Usage notes
- Historically, an oxymoron was "a paradox with a point",[6] or "pointedly foolish: a witty saying, the more pointed from being paradoxical or seemingly absurd" at first glance.[4] 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
Derived terms
Translations
figure of speech
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contradiction in terms — see contradiction in terms
See also
- Category:English oxymorons
- contranym
References
- oxymōrus in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ὀξύς in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- μωρός in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ὀξύμωρος in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- OED
- 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
Oxymoron on Wikipedia.Wikipedia - Lee’s Complete Oxymoron List, with discussion of classification (archive)
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