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In rhetoric, litotes (/laɪˈtoʊtiːz, ˈlaɪtətiːz/, US: /ˈlɪtətiːz/),[1] also known classically as antenantiosis or moderatour, is a figure of speech and form of irony in which understatement is used to emphasize a point by stating a negative to further affirm a positive, often incorporating double negatives for effect.[2][3][4] Litotes is a form of understatement, which can be in the form of meiosis, and is always deliberate with the intention of emphasis.[5] However, the interpretation of negation may depend on context, including cultural context. In speech, litotes may also depend on intonation and emphasis; for example, the phrase "not bad" can be intonated differently so as to mean either "mediocre" or "excellent".[6] Along the same lines, litotes can be used (as a form of auxesis[7]), to euphemistically provide emphasis by diminishing the harshness of an observation; "He isn't the cleanest person I know" could be used as a means of indicating that someone is a messy person.[8]
The use of litotes is common in English, Russian, German, Yiddish, Dutch, Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Ukrainian, Polish, Chinese, French, Czech and Slovak, and is also prevalent in a number of other languages and dialects. It is a feature of Old English poetry and of the Icelandic sagas and is a means of much stoical restraint.[9]
The word litotes is of Greek origin (λιτότης), meaning 'simplicity', and is derived from the word λιτός, litos, meaning 'plain, simple, small or meager'.[10]
- ^ "litotes". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. Retrieved 18 December 2021. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
- ^ "Litotes". The Free Dictionary. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
- ^ "Double negative". The Free Dictionary. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
- ^ "WordNet Search". WordNet: An Electronic Lexical Database. Princeton University. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
- ^ Smyth 1920 p.680
- ^ "litotes (figure of speech)". About.com. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
- ^ Perseus: Henry Peachum., The Garden of Eloquence (1593) Schemas, accessed 15 March 2023
- ^ "litotes". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica (1984) Micropædia VI, p. 266. "Litotes".
- ^ Burton, Gideon. "Silva Rhetoricae". Brigham Young University. Retrieved 22 October 2013.