See Also: oxymoron(dictionary)
oxymoron(dictionary)

oxymoron (iou)



oxymoron noun. M17.
[Greek oxumoron use as noun of neut. sing. of oxumoros pointedly foolish, from oxus (see OXY-) + moros foolish (see MORON).]
A rhetorical figure of speech in which markedly contradictory terms appear in conjunction so as to emphasize the statement; gen. a contradiction in terms.
New Yorker That familiar oxymoron a weak tyrant.
oxymo'ronic adjective of or pertaining to an oxymoron; incongruous, self-contradictory: L20.
oxymo'ronically adverb E20.