litotes

See also: Litotes and lítotes

Contents

EnglishEdit

PronunciationEdit

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: lītō'tēz, IPA^(key): /laɪˈtəʊ.tiːz/
• Hyphenation: li-to-tes

EtymologyEdit

From French litote, from Ancient Greek λιτότης (litótēs), from λιτός (litós, “simple”).

NounEdit

litotes (uncountable)

1. (rhetoric) An ironic figure of speech whereby something is stated by denying its opposite, particularly the negation of a negative quality to say something positive.

HypernymsEdit

• irony
• understatement, meiosis

AntonymsEdit

• See hyperbole

TranslationsEdit

rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite

• Catalan: lítote f
• Esperanto: litoto, maltroigo
• Finnish: litoteesi
• French: litote (fr) f
• German: Litotes (de) f
• Greek: λιτότητα (el) (litótita)

  Ancient: λιτότης f (litótēs)

• Ido: litoto (io)
• Irish: liotóid f

• Italian: litote (it) f
• Manx: fo-raa m
• Portuguese: litotes (pt) f
• Russian: лито́та (ru) f (litóta)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: литота f

  Latin: litota (sh) f

• Spanish: litote (es) f, lítotes (es) f
• Tagalog: makumbaba

See alsoEdit

• paradiastole
• double negative

AnagramsEdit

• Sottile, oil test, toilest, toilets

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FrenchEdit

PronunciationEdit

• IPA^(key): /li.tɔt/

NounEdit

litotes f

1. plural of litote

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PortugueseEdit

NounEdit

litotes f (plural litotes)

1. (rhetoric) litotes (an understatement employed for rhetoric effect)