litotes
Syllables: li·to·tes/laɪˈtəʊ.tiːz/
litotes noun: a figure of speech whereby something is stated by denying its opposite.
Noun
litotes (countable and uncountable, plural litotes)
- A figure of speech whereby something is stated by denying its opposite.
- The delicacy which prompts a later generation to reject that name is by no means necessarily a result of stricter habits, is far more often due to the flatness which comes of untiring repetition and to the greater piquancy of litotes.1895, William Congreve, “Introduction”, in G. S. Street, editor, The Comedies of William Congreve, volume 1, Methuen and Co.
- Synonyms:
- antenantiosis, meiosis, moderatour
- Antonyms:
- hyperbole
litotes meaning in Tagalog
litotes in Tagalog
- rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite
- makumbaba
Synonyms of litotes
Antonyms
Forms of litotes
| plural | litotes |
|---|
Origin of litotes
Learned borrowing from Late Latin lītotēs, from Ancient Greek λιτότης (litótēs, literally “plainness”), from λιτός (litós, “simple”).
Words formed from litotes
Questions about litotes
- What does litotes mean?
- Litotes means a figure of speech whereby something is stated by denying its opposite.
- What is litotes in Tagalog?
- Litotes in Tagalog is makumbaba. See Litotes meaning in Tagalog.
- What part of speech is litotes?
- Litotes is a noun.
- How do you pronounce litotes?
- Litotes is pronounced /laɪˈtəʊ.tiːz/ (UK).
- What is the plural of litotes?
- The plural of litotes is litotes.
Words near litotes in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: litotes (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-litotes.wav, Litotes.ogg.
Cite this entry: “litotes.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/litotes. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.