| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| oxymoron |
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| SYLLABICATION: | ox·y·mo·ron |
| PRONUNCIATION: |   k s -môr n, -m r- |
| NOUN: | Inflected forms: pl. ox·y·mo·ra (-môr , -mr) or ox·y·mo·rons
A rhetorical figure in which incongruous or contradictory terms are combined, as in a deafening silence and a mournful optimist. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Greek oxumron, from neuter of oxumros, pointedly foolish : oxus, sharp; see oxygen + mros, foolish, dull. | | OTHER FORMS: | oxy·mo·ronic (-m-rn k) —ADJECTIVE
oxy·mo·roni·cal·ly —ADVERB
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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