Do you know what oxymoron is? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on oxymoron, including its definition, usage, example sentences, and more!
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Kevin
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December 13, 2021
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What is oxymoron?
According to Collins English Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, and the American Heritage Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, an oxymoron is a grammatical device that combines two opposite qualities when describing a phrase. This phrase makes use of an adjective or adverb for humor. This is often used in true fiction, rhetoric, pop culture, and more. This contradictory figure of speech has been used by many famous authors and poets, such as in the following examples:
- “Of melancholy merriment, to quote” – from Don Juan by Lord Byron
- “I like a smuggler. He is the only honest thief.” – from Essays of Elia by Charles Lamb
- “A terrible beauty is born,” – from Easter 1916 by William Butler Yeats
- “All your perfect imperfections” – from All of Me by John Legend
- “O loving hate.”- from Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare
- “We’re busy doin’ nothin’ – from Busy Doing Nothing by Bing Crosby
- “And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true.” – from Lancelot and Elaine by Alfred Lord Tennyson
- “Parting is such sweet sorrow.” – from Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare
Oxymorons can be used for a variety of different effects. Sometimes they are used for humor or sarcasm. Other times they are used to make a statement about the contradictory nature of something. Overall, oxymorons are commonly used in prose and poetry to refer to contradictions or things that seem like an enigma.
Many different languages also contain words that mean oxymoron. You may notice that some of these translations of oxymoron look and sound similar to one another. These are called cognates, which are words and phrases in different languages that likely have the same root or language of origin, causing them to sound the same. The below list of translations of oxymoron is provided by Word Sense.
- Icelandic: refhvörf (n-p)
- Esperanto: oksimoro
- Swedish: oxymoron, självmotsägelse
- Tagalog: kulanglabis
- Ancient Greek: ὀξύμωρον (neut.)
- French: oxymore (masc.), keekeeli (pl.)
- Turkish: oksimoron (neut.)
- Finnish: oksymoron
- Macedonian: оксиморон
- Japanese: 撞着語法 (どうちゃくごほう, dōchaku gohō)
- Czech: oxymóron (masc.)
- Portuguese: oxímoro (masc.)
- Italian: ossimoro (masc.)
- Polish: oksymoron (m-in)
- Catalan: oxímoron (masc.)
- Mandarin: 矛盾修飾法, 矛盾修饰法 (máodùn xiūshìfǎ), 矛盾語, 矛盾语 (máodùnyǔ)
- Greek: οξύμωρο σχήμα (neut.)
- Russian: окси́морон (masc.), оксю́морон (masc.)
- German: Oxymoron (neut.)
- Spanish: oxímoron (masc.)
- Slovak: oxymorón (masc.)
- Romanian: oximoron (neut.)
- Armenian: նրբաբանություն, օքսիմորոն
- Latin: oxymorum (neut.)
What is the word origin of oxymoron?
According to Dictionary, the word oxymoron has been used since the 17th century and comes from the New Latin and Late Latin oxymorum, which stems from the presumed Greek oxýmōron and Greek oxumōron which is the neuter of oxýmōros/oxumōros and equivalent to oxý, then added to the suffix mōrós.
What are examples of oxymoron?
oxymoron can be used in many different contexts in the English language. Trying to use a word or literary technique in a sentence is one of the best ways to memorize what it is, but you can also try making flashcards or quizzes that test your knowledge. Try using this term of the day in a sentence today! Below are a couple of examples of oxymoron that can help get you started incorporating this tool into your everyday use. Take a look at these oxymoron examples from Your Dictionary and see how many you know!
- dark light
- organized mess
- working vacation
- loosely sealed
- jumbo shrimp
- weirdly normal
- fairly obvious
- bittersweet
- freezer burn
- random order
- only option
- natural makeup
- dull roar
- mud bath
- small crowd
- act naturally
- minor crisis
- silent scream
- approximately equal
- serious fun
- wise fool
- accurate estimate
- good grief
- guest host
- quiet roar
- joyful sorrow
- accidentally on purpose
- upward fall
- definite possibility
- close distance
- controlled chaos
- real knockoff
- free love
- alone together
- advanced beginner
- exact estimate
- only choice
- conspicuous absence
- walking dead
- same difference
- genuine imitation
- growing smaller
- passive worship
- real-life fairy tale
- passive-aggressive
- seriously funny
- only alternative
- deliberate mistake
- old news
- unbiased opinion
- zero deficit
- cruel kindness
- climb down
- plastic silverware
- true myth
- consistently inconsistent
- full-time hobby
- literal interpretation
- loud whisper
- pretty ugly
- definite maybe
- cool passion
- painful beauty
- divided unity
- virtual reality
- love-hate
- found missing
- fairly accurate
- deceptive honesty
- constant variable
- theoretical experience
- firm pillow
- terribly good
- joyful noise
- rolling stop
- sweet misery
- crash landing
- imperfect perfection
- student teacher
- hard cushion
- disgustingly delicious
- minor miracle
- deafening silence
- terribly nice
- amazingly awful
- tragic comedy
- fine mess
- almost exactly
- endless hour
- open circuit
- original copy
- unpopular celebrity
- friendly fire
- calculated risk
- devout agnostic
- double solitaire
- going nowhere
- open secret
- final draft
- larger half
- passive learning
- feather of lead
- serious vanity
- cold fire
- sick health
- love feel
- bright smoke
- misshapen chaos
What are other literary techniques and devices?
There are many different grammatical and literary techniques and devices that you might see when you are reading poetry or prose. Knowing these devices is very important because they are always used in writing or speech for some purpose. Knowing these devices can help readers and listeners understand the speaker or author’s deeper meaning and why they are using such a device. Take a look at the below list of literary devices from Reedsy and see how many you know! Then try researching ones that are unfamiliar to you.
- Foreshadowing
- Repetition
- Personification
- Isocolon
- Aphorism
- Onomatopoeia
- Metonymy
- Metaphor
- Flashback
- Synecdoche
- Allegory
- Archetype
- Litotes
- Malapropism
- Frame story
- Irony
- Tragicomedy
- Point of view
- Chiasmus
- Hypophora
- Anachronism
- Tone
- Anthropomorphism
- Motif
- Dramatic irony
- Zoomorphism
- Colloquialism
- Exposition
- Tautology
- Polysyndeton
- Imagery
- Anastrophe
- Anaphora
- Soliloquy
- Symbolism
- Satire
- Hyperbole
- In Medias Res
- Cumulative sentence
- Tmesis
- Alliteration
- Juxtaposition
- Euphemism
- Simile
- Allusion
- Paradox
Overall, the word oxymoron is a literary and grammatical device that has an epigrammatic effect or self-contradictory effect.
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