Word.ws English Dictionary

apophasis

UK/əˈpɒf.ə.sɪs/US/əˈpɑf.ə.sɪs/

apophasis noun: an allusion to something by denying that it will be mentioned.

Noun

apophasis (countable and uncountable, plural apophases)

  1. (rhetoric) An allusion to something by denying that it will be mentioned.
    • Apophasis, affecting to conceal;
      What it would seem to hide, will yet reveal.1835, L[arret] Langley, “[Rhetorical Figures.] Apophasis.”, in A Manual of the Figures of Rhetoric, […], Doncaster, South Yorkshire: […] C. White, […], →OCLC, page 63
  2. A process of arriving at knowledge by statements of denial; particularly, developing a concept of God through negative assertions about his nature.
    Synonyms:
    apophatic theology, via negativa

apophasis meaning in Tagalog

apophasis in Tagalog

allusion to something by denying that it will be mentioned
pakunwari

Synonyms of apophasis

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of apophasis

Forms of apophasis

pluralapophases

Origin of apophasis

Via Late Latin apophasis from Ancient Greek ἀπόφασις (apóphasis, “denial, negation”) from ἀπο- (apo-, “away, from, off”) + φάσις (phásis, “statement, proposition”) from φημί (phēmí, “to speak”) from Proto-Hellenic *pʰā́mā from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂; whence Latin fārī, cognate to fame, fable.

Questions about apophasis

What does apophasis mean?
Apophasis means an allusion to something by denying that it will be mentioned.
What is apophasis in Tagalog?
Apophasis in Tagalog is pakunwari. See Apophasis meaning in Tagalog.
What part of speech is apophasis?
Apophasis is a noun.
How do you pronounce apophasis?
Apophasis is pronounced /əˈpɒf.ə.sɪs/ (UK).
What is the plural of apophasis?
The plural of apophasis is apophases.

Words near apophasis in the dictionary

  1. apophallation
  2. apophanous
  3. apophantic
  4. apophany
  5. apophases
  6. apophasis
  7. apophatic
  8. apophatically
  9. apophatism
  10. apophatisms
  11. apophenia

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: apophasis (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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