Oxymoron
/ˌɒk.sɪˈmɔːr.ɒn/noun
A figure of speech that combines contradictory or sharply contrasting terms.
Did you know?The word itself is an ancient Greek oxymoron: oxys means “sharp” and moros means “dull” or “foolish,” so the term for contradiction was born as a contradiction.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Greek
Greek
oxýmōron
“A rhetorically paradoxical expression; literally “sharp-dull”.”
Late Latin
Latin
oxymōrum
“A borrowed scholarly form used in rhetorical writing.”
15th–16th Century
English
oxymoron
“A learned rhetorical term for a pointed contradiction in words.”
Modern English
English
oxymoron
“A phrase or expression that combines contradictory terms.”