Oxymoron is derived from the Greek oksús which means “sharp, keen, pointed” and mōros which means “dull, stupid, foolish“. Once those meanings are put together, they can be “sharp-dull”, “keenly stupid”, or “pointedly foolish”.
Oxymoron is then a figure of speech in which two words or phrases with opposing meanings are used together for effect. Most of them are made by adjectives preceding nouns with contrasting meanings. Oxymoron allows the author to use contradictory, contrasting concepts put together in a manner that actually ends up making sense in a strange, and slightly complex way. Sometimes the contrasting words or phrases are not always put together, which means that the contrasting ideas may be spaced out in a sentence.
Examples
√ Fireless fireplaces.
√ Fireless fireplaces.
√ Sad joy
√ Dark light
√ Clearly confused
√ Wise fool
√ Cruel kindness
√ Open secret
√ Foolish wisdom
√ Small crowd
√ Plastic glasses
√ Sad smile
√ Tragic comedy
√ Original copies
√ Hell’s angels
√ Living dead
√ Free trade
√ Nice death
√ Student teacher
√ Seriously funny
√ Found missing
√ Cold fire
√ Sweet sorrow
√ Smart idiot
√ There was a love-hate relationship between those neighbours.
√ Paid volunteers were working for the company.
√ During the last meeting, some of the politicians agreed to disagree.
√ There was a deafening silence in the village.
√ The radio station is broadcasting the old news.
√ In a friendly fire, many soldiers have died.
√ Some of my employees have been regularly irregular.
√ Since he was not interested in their conversations, he was alone in a crowd.
√ The heads of state gathered to determine an approximate solution to the war.
√ The drivers were asked to give their unbiased opinion on the transport issue.
√ When the people found out that he had invited unpopular celebrities, they started to leave.
In literature, oxymoron is used for many reasons. At times an oxymoron may call attention to the dual nature of an object or concept; and may also be used to create a humorous effect.
The difference between an oxymoron and a paradox is that an oxymoron is a combination of two contradictory/opposite words while a paradox may consist of a sentence or a group of sentences. A paradox seems absurd and contradicts itself, but contains a hidden truth. An oxymoron, however, may produce a dramatic effect, but does not make literal sense.
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