Dictionary

litotes en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /laɪˈtəʊ.tiːz/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Received-Pronunciation) audio
• lītō'tēz (Received-Pronunciation)
• (US) audio

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Late Latin lītotēs, from Ancient Greek λιτότης (litótēs, literally “plainness”), from λιτός (litós, “simple”).

Meanings

1. (countable, rhetoric, uncountable) A figure of speech whereby something is stated by denying its opposite.
   • The delicacy which prompts a later generation to reject that name is by no means necessarily a result of stricter habits, is far more often due to the flatness which comes of untiring repetition and to the greater piquancy of litotes. 1895, William Congreve, “Introduction”, in G. S. Street, editor, The Comedies of William Congreve, volume 1, Methuen and Co.:
2. (countable, especially, rhetoric, uncountable) A figure of speech whereby something is stated by denying its opposite. ▸ The negation of a negative quality to assert a positive.

Forms

Antonyms

hyperbole · hyperbole

Deriveds

litotical · litotic · litotically

Hypernyms

understatement · irony · meiosis · understatement · irony · meiosis

Relateds

double negative · paradiastole

Synonyms

antenantiosis · antenantiosis · meiosis · moderatour · moderatour · meiosis

Translations (29)

es lítotes (rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite) · sh литота (rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite) · eo litoto (rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite) · el λιτότητα (rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite) · es lítote (rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite) · es litote (rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite) · nb litotes (rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite) · ga liotóid (rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite) · pl litota (rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite) · fi litoteesi (rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite) · ru лито́та (rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite) · pl litotes (rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite) · ca lítote (rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite) · fr litote (rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite) · cs litotes (rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite) · sh litota (rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite) · tl makumbaba (rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite) · es litotes (rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite) · scn litoti (rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite) · gv fo-raa (rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite) · pt litotes (rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite) · nl litotes (rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite) · eo maltroigo (rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite) · nb litot (rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite) · scn lìtuti (rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite) · io litoto (rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite) · grc λιτότης (rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite) · it litote (rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite) · de Litotes (rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite)