What is OXIMORON

A oxymoron is a rhetorical figure that is formed by uniting two words with opposite meanings to create a meaning, apparently impossible, but that awakens in the reader a new image loaded with emotion and meaning. For example: The white night.

This figure is used mostly in poetry and it can be used to express both annoyance and sarcasm. In this lesson from a TEACHER we want to explain what is oxymoron, its main characteristics and clear examples so that you can understand it in a practical way.

Index

1. What is an oxymoron
2. Characteristics of the oxymoron
3. Differences of the oxymoron with other figures of speech
4. Examples of oxymoron

A oxymoron is a Literary figure that is used in the lyric above all and that contrasts two words with apparently different meanings that give rise to a new concept. The Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL) located in San Sebastián determined that this rhetorical figure helps the proper functioning of our brain.

By combining two opposite words to create a new meaning, activates the entire front left part of our brain generating intense activity that is beneficial for proper brain function. The power of oxymorons has been known since ancient Greece and has been used by poets, politicians and great communicators to convince and seduce to your listeners or readers.

Many times, humans are able to contradict ourselves while we speak without even realizing it, but the oxymoron it is an intentional act. The proposed contradiction awakens in the listener a time of reflection and then reaches a more or less correct conclusion. It is one of the best ways to capture the attention of the listener or reader.

Image: Example of.

The oxymorons are rhetorical figures very linked to emotions, but, although they leave a lot of freedom when composing them, there are certain specific characteristics common in all of them:

• Produces a perverse, metaphorical and implausible sense to the concept that was previously being developed
• Is a Literary figure
• Give one strength unexpected to the reader
• With the two words used, a new one is formed with a different meaning very subjective
• The most frequent form is the combination of a adjective with a noun. For example: sweet pain.
• Is used for decorate the phrase
• It is based on two elements that are completely contradictory
• It is used mostly in the mythical poetry with loving character
• Join two concepts with opposite meanings in one same syntactic structure
• It is absurd, therefore its use is properly metaphorical

Many times we understand the concept of a rhetorical figure, but in practice we find it difficult to differentiate it from another that may look very similar. Next we will show you some of the rhetorical figures most similar to the oxymoron so that you can see their differences.

Differences between oxymoron and antithesis

The antithesis differs from the oxymoron in that it proposes the opposition between two phrases or ideas and not between two simple words. For instance: A small step for man, a great step for humanity.

Differences between oxymoron and paradox

The main difference between an oxymoron and a paradox is that this presents a opposition as a whole in front of a single word. Instead the oxymoron are simply two words that create a new meaning. For instance: I only know that I know nothing.

Being a literary figure, it is often difficult to describe the meaning of the oxymoron through own language, so when you see it in practice, the brain automatically understands the concept.

Here we leave you with some examples of oxymoron, we have highlighted them in bold font so you can find them easily. Read them calmly and give yourself enough time to be able to grasp, in a subjective way, what each of them suggests to you.

• He left, leaving behind a nice sore in my heart
• When I saw his smile, a tense calm that I had never felt
• Then he came, the Undead, to take revenge on all the people
• His words were like a scorching ice for my soul
• After the first outburst we could feel the thunderous silence that made us change our lives forever
• My books are full of voids (Augusto Monterroso)
• Sometimes I let the learned ignorance that lives in me, guide the course of my steps
• This Picasso painting is a original copy that he dedicated to my father
• Robin Hood is known as the greatest honest thief of all times
• He fell into the void in a eternal instant and there I knew there was no going back
• After all that he had suffered he became a beautiful monster that gave off sincerity

Now you know what oxymorons are, their definition, and you've seen some examples. If you are interested in continuing to learn more about this rhetorical figure or some other related topic, do not hesitate to consult our Literary Concepts section.

If you want to read more articles similar to Oxymoron: definition and examples, we recommend that you enter our category of Literary concepts.

• Depietri, F. OR. (2021). "Non-lethal" weapons: Oxymoron or Euphemism?. Informative Bulletin of the Group of Young Researchers.
• Martínez, J. M. (2010). Subversion or oxymoron?: fantastic literature and the metaphysics of the object. Rilce: Journal of Hispanic Philology, 26(2), 363-82.