| Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary 3,590,121,232 visitors served. |
Dictionary/ thesaurus | Medical dictionary | Legal dictionary | Financial dictionary | Acronyms | Idioms | Encyclopedia | Wikipedia encyclopedia | ? |
litotes |
Also found in: Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson | 0.01 sec. |
|
|
litotes [ˈlaɪtəʊˌtiːz] n pl -tes (Literature / Rhetoric) understatement for rhetorical effect, esp when achieved by using negation with a term in place of using an antonym of that term, as in ``She was not a little upset'' for ``She was extremely upset.'' [from Greek, from litos small] litotes an understatement, especially one in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of the contrary, as in “it’s not unpleasant.” See also: Rhetoric and Rhetorical Deviceslitotes - From Greek litos, "simple, single," it refers to an ironical understatement (e.g. no small amount) or two negatives used to make a positive (e.g. it was not unsuccessful); it is pronounced lie-TOH-teez, LEYED-uh-teez, LID-uh-teez, or leye-TOHD-eez. See also related terms for positive.
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Translations litotes n → Litotes f How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
|
| Dictionary, Thesaurus, and Translations |
| Free Tools: |
For surfers:
Free toolbar & extensions |
Word of the Day |
Help
For webmasters: Free content | Linking | Lookup box | Double-click lookup | Partner with us |
|---|