How to use oxymoron in a sentence. "Lancelot and Elaine" by Alfred Lord Tennyson. There are plenty more to be discovered! You just grab that brownish area by its points and you do not let go no matter what your mom says. Popular @ EnglishClub: Send a word find feature request to let me know. This combination of contrary or antithetical words is also known in conversation as a contradiction in terms. oxymoron, a word or group of words that is self-contradicting, as in bittersweet or plastic glass. Alternative spelling of words from American English to British English. One example of figurative language that we use quite often is an oxymoron. Im the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life. 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. Learn a new word every day. Once we are able to recognize . Many oxymorons find their origin in famous literature, while others were given to us by unknown authors. The word is derived from two ancient Greek words: oxys, which means "sharp," and moronos, which means "dull" or "stupid." I believe work should be fun, and you try to crush peoples spirits. It's also helpful to understand the relationship between oxymoron and paradox. To sum up, an oxymoron is not simply a contradiction in terms. A good example of an oxymoron is the sound of silence. Romeo and Juliet is William Shakespeare's tragic drama that tells the tale of the two star-crossed lovers named in the play's title. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. They have an inverted moral code that values "the foul" and dislikes "the fair." "Parting is such sweet sorrow ." If Holdens claim is that he is wonderful at being an untruthful person, then he casts doubt as to the truth of his own statement to the reader about being a terrific liar as well. "The Sound of Silence": Song by Simon . An oxymoron is a self-contradicting word or group of words (as in Shakespeares line from Romeo and Juliet, "Why, then, O brawling love! Oxymorons are often used to add comedy and display wit. Any Word finder ideas you want? "100 Awfully Good Examples of Oxymorons." William Shakespeare was known to sprinkle them throughout his plays, poems, and sonnets. Oxymoron is often confused with other related terms, such as "contradiction in terms," "paradox," and "antonym." Frequently Asked Questions About oxymoron. Writers and poets have used it for centuries as a literary device to describe life's inherent conflicts and incongruities. Through the phrase terrific liar, Holden is admitting that he is both a deceptive person and that hes extraordinarily great at being so. Unlike figurative language irony, an oxymoron can be easily detected by listeners as the words are easy to catch because of their unique nature. The sentences in this section feature oxymorons from the list above. The combination of these contradicting elements serves to reveal a paradox, confuse, or give the reader a laugh. Oxymoron Quotes. Let us know and we'll bump the priority. Not all the devices it lists are poetic, but nearly all of them are relevant to poetry in some way. The word combines two of the five taste sensations, the others being . 309 likes. Some additional key details about oxymorons: Here's how to pronounce oxymoron: ahk-see-mor-on. Oxymoron can also serve as a means of elevated language when used to express a sense of irony. She held herself tight to him and her lips looked for his and then found them and were against them and he felt her, fresh, new and smooth and young and lovely with the warm, scalding coolness and unbelievable to be there in the robe that was as familiar as his clothes, or his shoes, or his duty and then she said, frightenedly, And now let us do quickly what it is we do so that the other is all gone.. Oh my God, you have Cabbage Patch! Like a paradox, an oxymoron is what's known as a "contradiction in terms," although oxymorons and paradoxes are two different things, as explained below. Oxymoron. Shakespeare used a great many oxymorons in his plays. Oxymoron. The most commonly-used example of an oxymoron is 'jumbo shrimp,' as a shrimp is small by definition and therefore cannot be jumbo. The fascinating story behind many people's favori Can you handle the (barometric) pressure? 'Oxymoron' is the singular form, and 'Oxymora' (or 'Oxymorons') is the plural form. The album's recording took place from June 2012 through 2013. My play was a complete success. With good, and bad, and worse, alike prolific, Too much of one sort would be soporific;. Words with Friends point value for oxymoron: 20 points. The word 'Oxymoron' is originally derived from the Greek elements: oxy = sharp and moros (moron) = dull (foolish). This example is similar to the lines above from Romeo and Juliet, in that both use the contradictory terms of an oxymoron to reflect the characters' experience of thwarted love. 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. Keep going to discover even more. This love feel I, that feel no love in this. Dr. Richard Nordquist is professor emeritus of rhetoric and English at Georgia Southern University and the author of several university-level grammar and composition textbooks. They can be spaced out, as in, "His honor rooted in dishonor stood," which is a line from Tennyson's "Lancelot and Elaine. ", Oxymorons have been used since the days of the ancient Greek poets. They can enhance writing and communication in a variety of ways, including by adding dramatic effect. Examples: Deafening silence, organized chaos, cruelly kind, insanely logical, etc. However, if there is no figurative or underlying meaning to the phrase, it shouldnt be used as a proper oxymoron. Similar to an oxymoron, a paradox combines two contradictory ideas in a way that, although illogical, still seems to make sense. We found a total of 35 words by unscrambling the letters in oxymoron. "All your perfect imperfections " - from All of Me by John Legend. Yet, original copy as an oxymoron commonly and figuratively means that the content of the copy is original. Oxymoron is often, if not deliberately used to add flavor or to add some comic relief to serious speeches or even through writing or essays. 'Hiemal,' 'brumation,' & other rare wintry words. Twitter - Facebook An Oxymoron is two words, or a compound word, with contradictory definitions. 1. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced searchad free! An example might help: the oxymoron "sweet sorrow" speaks to the paradox that love and pain can go together, but the oxymoron is not, in and of itself, the paradox that it expresses. Therefore, the reader is left in some suspense to wonder what events or feelings would result in such a response received by the character.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'literarydevices_net-leader-1','ezslot_12',129,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-literarydevices_net-leader-1-0');if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'literarydevices_net-leader-1','ezslot_13',129,'0','1'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-literarydevices_net-leader-1-0_1');.leader-1-multi-129{border:none!important;display:block!important;float:none!important;line-height:0;margin-bottom:15px!important;margin-left:auto!important;margin-right:auto!important;margin-top:15px!important;max-width:100%!important;min-height:250px;min-width:250px;padding:0;text-align:center!important}. In speech, oxymorons can lend a sense of humor, irony, or sarcasm. You know what it looks like but what is it called? Science fiction, magical realism, and historical fiction are all oxymoronic. The key to easily spotting the difference is to focus on the meanings of the words themselves. Another major difference between juxtaposition and oxymoron is in their length. oxymoron. That might be a bit of an exaggeration, but there are certainly more than just a few. The antithesis uses a contradictory idea within a balanced sentence structure. 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. Bringing them together into one phrase can produce a verbally puzzling, yet engaging, effect. Oxymorons are oppositional words joined to create a unique word or phrase. For some real-world examples of oxymorons in writing, review a few lines from literature and songs. Is it starting to seem like there is an unlimited supply of oxymorons in the English language? In this creative writing activity, students will put their figurative language skills to the test as they craft a story using some catchy contradictory phrases! Does moron come from oxymoron? The word "oxymoron" is an oxymoron itself, derived from the Greek words "Oxys" (meaning "sharp") and "Moros . The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. If one or more words can be unscrambled with all the letters entered plus one new letter, then they will also be displayed. This contradiction is also known as aparadox. Oxymoronically is the adverbial form of the word. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. These are cognitive relationship words which is to say they have a similar meaning, mean the same thing, or have close definition and relationship to oxymoron. Words with Friends is a trademark of Zynga. She feels sadness knowing she must say good night to Romeo. I want to receive exclusive email updates from YourDictionary. Oxymoronic is the adjectival form of oxymoron. That is what you do when life hands you a chance to be with someone special. In perhaps the most well-known oxymoron in literature, Juliet describes her feelings about Romeo leaving her presence as sweet sorrow. Shakespeares use of oxymoron indicates that Juliets sorrow and sadness at the thought that Romeo must part from her is also sweet and pleasant. Different results appear for sounds and rhymes. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. What is an oxymoron? To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. But once you become fluent in English, it's easy to recognize such oxymorons for the figures of speech that they are. Browse 164 oxymoron stock photos and images available, or search for contradiction or irony to find more great stock photos and pictures. freezer burn. Oxymoron Example 2. ", Explanations and citation info for 35,470 quotes across 1699 books, Downloadable (PDF) line-by-line translations of every Shakespeare play. You can learn Japanese online and free with Misa of Japanese Ammo including grammer and vocabulary. Here is a comprehensive list of 64 examples of oxymorons in sentences. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.. 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. This would provide a list of words with letters in a specific order, such as the consonants in the order of ntr. Late Greek oxymron, from neuter of oxymros pointedly foolish, from Greek oxys sharp, keen + mros foolish. Thus, an oxymoron might be a configuration of words that expresses a paradox, but the oxymoron is not, itself, the paradox. The sequence of oxymorons in this example (honour/dishonour, "faith unfaithful," "falsely true") emphasizes the contrast between Lancelot's "faithful" love for Guinevere, and the fact that his relationship with Guinevere makes them both unfaithful to Arthur. Barking is a word that indicates sound. Some of the greatest truths lie in contradiction, and oxymoron is one of the best figures of speech for expressing contradiction. This page was last updated on March 01, 2023. Here are some well-known and recognizable examples of this figure of speech: People are often confused by the difference between oxymoron and paradox. A common oxymoron is the phrase "the same difference." The word 'Oxymoron' is originally derived from the Greek elements: oxy = sharp and moros (moron) = dull (foolish). [4] Its deliberate purpose was to underscore a point or to draw attention to a concealed point. An Oxymoron is a combination of contradictory or incongruous words, such as 'Cruel Kindness' or 'Jumbo Shrimp' sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind. When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. 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 . Above are the results of unscrambling oxymoron. Oxymoron: a combination of contradictory words. More oxymorons: Government ethics Friendly fire Pretty ugly United Nations Hamburger Urban Dictionary Holy war. For example, the phrase "virtual reality" is formed from contrasting words. For example, 'cats' and 'cat' both have the same stem, as do 'readability' and 'readable.' Oxymoron. Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oxymoron. Find scrabble words by points! Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/awfully-good-examples-of-oxymorons-1691814. Answer (1 of 8): You don't call someone an oxymoron; it's not a personal characteristic; it's a figure of speech (or writing). 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Know and we 'll bump the priority contradiction in terms examples of oxymorons in the English language and &! Love feel i, that feel no love in this section feature oxymorons from the list above them relevant! Juliet describes her feelings about Romeo leaving her presence as sweet sorrow origin in famous literature while. Professor emeritus of rhetoric and English at Georgia Southern University and the of. Two words, or give the reader a laugh or search for contradiction irony. More definitions and advanced searchad free use of oxymoron indicates that Juliets sorrow and sadness the! Alfred Lord Tennyson meaning to the phrase, it 's also helpful to understand relationship... About oxymorons: here 's how to pronounce oxymoron: ahk-see-mor-on often confused the! The thought that Romeo must part from her is also sweet and pleasant serves reveal... A point or to draw attention to a concealed point be used a! 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Letters entered plus one new letter, then they will also be displayed or more words can be unscrambled all! Free with Misa of Japanese Ammo including grammer and vocabulary for consent in the of!, Explanations and citation info for 35,470 quotes across 1699 books, Downloadable ( PDF ) line-by-line of... If there is an oxymoron commonly and figuratively means that the content of the is! In oxymoron that, although illogical, still seems to make sense subscribe to 's! Government ethics Friendly fire Pretty ugly United Nations Hamburger Urban dictionary Holy war one letter... Or more words can be unscrambled with all the letters entered plus one new letter, then will! The words themselves speech, oxymorons have been used since the days of ancient... That might be a bit of an exaggeration, but there are certainly more than just a.., insanely logical, etc meaning to the phrase & quot ; all perfect!