Oxymoron

Noun

 * 1)  A figure of speech in which two words with opposing meanings are used together intentionally for effect.
 * 2) * A famous example is Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 1, ll. 63-4:
 * No light, but rather darkness visible
 * Serv'd only to discover sights of woe
 * 1)  A contradiction in terms.
 * 2) A paradoxical juxtaposition of two seemingly contradictory words.

Derived terms

 * oxymoronic
 * oxymoronically

Related terms

 * moron
 * oxy-
 * sophomore

Thesaurus
Gordian knot, absurdity, ambiguity, ambivalence, antinomy, asymmetry, crux, dilemma, disproportion, disproportionateness, enigma, equivocality, equivocation, heresy, heterodoxy, heterogeneity, hopelessness, impossibility, impossible, impossibleness, incoherence, incommensurability, incompatibility, inconceivability, incongruity, inconsistency, inconsonance, irony, irreconcilability, knot, knotty point, no chance, node, nodus, nonconformability, nonconformity, nonplus, paradox, perplexity, pons asinorum, poser, puzzle, quandary, self-contradiction, teaser, the impossible, unconformability, unconformity, unimaginability, unorthodoxy, unthinkability, vexed question, what cannot be, what cannot happen

Etymology
From 5th century oxymoron:, from  ὀξύς: (English oxy-:, as in oxygen:) + μωρός: (English moron:). Literally “sharp-dull”, itself an oxymoron, hence autological; compare sophomore:, influenced by similar analysis. The compound form *undefined: is not found in the extant Greek sources.

Translations

 * Catalan: oxímoron
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin: 矛盾修飾法, 矛盾修饰法, 矛盾語, 矛盾语
 * Czech:
 * Finnish:
 * French:
 * German:
 * Greek: οξύμωρο σχήμα
 * Ancient Greek: ὀξύμωρον
 * Icelandic:
 * Italian:


 * Japanese: 撞着語法
 * Latin: oxymorum
 * Macedonian: оксиморон
 * Polish: }
 * Portuguese:
 * Romanian: oximoron
 * Russian: оксиморон
 * Slovak: oxymorón
 * Spanish:
 * Swedish:, självmotsägelse
 * Turkish:

Noun

 * 1) oxymoron (figure of speech)