Library / English Dictionary

LITOTES

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Understatement for rhetorical effect (especially when expressing an affirmative by negating its contrary)

Example:

saying 'I was not a little upset' when you mean 'I was very upset' is an example of litotes

Synonyms:

litotes; meiosis

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("litotes" is a kind of...):

understatement (a statement that is restrained in ironic contrast to what might have been said)

rhetorical device (a use of language that creates a literary effect (but often without regard for literal significance))

Credits