See litotes in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{
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"name": "der"
}
],
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"kind": "other",
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{
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"kind": "other",
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},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Tagalog translations",
"parents": [],
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},
{
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Figures of speech",
"orig": "en:Figures of speech",
"parents": [
"Rhetoric",
"Language",
"Communication",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Rhetoric",
"orig": "en:Rhetoric",
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],
"derived": [
{
"word": "litotic"
},
{
"word": "litotical"
},
{
"word": "litotically"
}
],
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{
"ref": "1895, William Congreve, “Introduction”, in G. S. Street, editor, The Comedies of William Congreve, volume 1, Methuen and Co.:",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
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"A figure of speech whereby something is stated by denying its opposite, particularly the negation of a negative quality to say something positive."
],
"id": "en-litotes-en-noun-fDKOSQpy",
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[
"rhetoric",
"rhetoric"
],
[
"figure of speech",
"figure of speech"
],
[
"something",
"something"
],
[
"state",
"state"
],
[
"deny",
"deny"
],
[
"opposite",
"opposite"
],
[
"particularly",
"particularly"
],
[
"negation",
"negation"
],
[
"negative",
"negative"
],
[
"quality",
"quality"
],
[
"say",
"say"
],
[
"positive",
"positive"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(rhetoric) A figure of speech whereby something is stated by denying its opposite, particularly the negation of a negative quality to say something positive."
],
"related": [
{
"word": "paradiastole"
},
{
"word": "double negative"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "meiosis"
}
],
"tags": [
"countable",
"rhetoric",
"uncountable"
],
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{
"code": "ca",
"lang": "Catalan",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "lítote"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"feminine",
"masculine"
],
"word": "litotes"
},
{
"code": "eo",
"lang": "Esperanto",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"word": "litoto"
},
{
"code": "eo",
"lang": "Esperanto",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"word": "maltroigo"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"word": "litoteesi"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "litote"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "Litotes"
},
{
"code": "el",
"lang": "Greek",
"roman": "litótita",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"word": "λιτότητα"
},
{
"code": "grc",
"lang": "Ancient Greek",
"roman": "litótēs",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "λιτότης"
},
{
"code": "io",
"lang": "Ido",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"word": "litoto"
},
{
"code": "ga",
"lang": "Irish",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "liotóid"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "litote"
},
{
"code": "gv",
"lang": "Manx",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "fo-raa"
},
{
"code": "nb",
"lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "litot"
},
{
"code": "nb",
"lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "litotes"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "litota"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "litotes"
},
{
"code": "pt",
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"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "litotes"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "litóta",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "лито́та"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"Cyrillic",
"feminine"
],
"word": "литота"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"Latin",
"feminine"
],
"word": "litota"
},
{
"code": "scn",
"lang": "Sicilian",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "lìtuti"
},
{
"code": "scn",
"lang": "Sicilian",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "litoti"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "litote"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "lítotes"
},
{
"code": "tl",
"lang": "Tagalog",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"word": "makumbaba"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/laɪˈtəʊ.tiːz/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"enpr": "lītō'tēz",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
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],
"word": "litotes"
}
{
"derived": [
{
"word": "litotic"
},
{
"word": "litotical"
},
{
"word": "litotically"
}
],
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"2": "LL.",
"3": "lītotēs"
},
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"name": "lbor"
},
{
"args": {
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"2": "grc",
"3": "λιτότης",
"lit": "plainness"
},
"expansion": "Ancient Greek λιτότης (litótēs, literally “plainness”)",
"name": "der"
}
],
"etymology_text": "Learned borrowing from Late Latin lītotēs, from Ancient Greek λιτότης (litótēs, literally “plainness”), from λιτός (litós, “simple”).",
"forms": [
{
"form": "litotes",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
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{
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"1": "~",
"2": "litotes"
},
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}
],
"hyphenation": [
"li‧to‧tes"
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"related": [
{
"word": "paradiastole"
},
{
"word": "double negative"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"antonyms": [
{
"word": "hyperbole"
}
],
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English indeclinable nouns",
"English learned borrowings from Late Latin",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English nouns with irregular plurals",
"English terms borrowed from Late Latin",
"English terms derived from Ancient Greek",
"English terms derived from Late Latin",
"English terms with quotations",
"English uncountable nouns",
"Entries with translation boxes",
"Pages with 8 entries",
"Pages with entries",
"Serbo-Croatian terms with redundant script codes",
"Terms with Ancient Greek translations",
"Terms with Catalan translations",
"Terms with Dutch translations",
"Terms with Esperanto translations",
"Terms with Finnish translations",
"Terms with French translations",
"Terms with German translations",
"Terms with Greek translations",
"Terms with Ido translations",
"Terms with Irish translations",
"Terms with Italian translations",
"Terms with Manx translations",
"Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations",
"Terms with Polish translations",
"Terms with Portuguese translations",
"Terms with Russian translations",
"Terms with Serbo-Croatian translations",
"Terms with Sicilian translations",
"Terms with Spanish translations",
"Terms with Tagalog translations",
"en:Figures of speech",
"en:Rhetoric"
],
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{
"ref": "1895, William Congreve, “Introduction”, in G. S. Street, editor, The Comedies of William Congreve, volume 1, Methuen and Co.:",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A figure of speech whereby something is stated by denying its opposite, particularly the negation of a negative quality to say something positive."
],
"links": [
[
"rhetoric",
"rhetoric"
],
[
"figure of speech",
"figure of speech"
],
[
"something",
"something"
],
[
"state",
"state"
],
[
"deny",
"deny"
],
[
"opposite",
"opposite"
],
[
"particularly",
"particularly"
],
[
"negation",
"negation"
],
[
"negative",
"negative"
],
[
"quality",
"quality"
],
[
"say",
"say"
],
[
"positive",
"positive"
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],
"raw_glosses": [
"(rhetoric) A figure of speech whereby something is stated by denying its opposite, particularly the negation of a negative quality to say something positive."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "meiosis"
}
],
"tags": [
"countable",
"rhetoric",
"uncountable"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/laɪˈtəʊ.tiːz/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"enpr": "lītō'tēz",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
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],
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{
"code": "ca",
"lang": "Catalan",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "lítote"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"feminine",
"masculine"
],
"word": "litotes"
},
{
"code": "eo",
"lang": "Esperanto",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"word": "litoto"
},
{
"code": "eo",
"lang": "Esperanto",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"word": "maltroigo"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"word": "litoteesi"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "litote"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "Litotes"
},
{
"code": "el",
"lang": "Greek",
"roman": "litótita",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"word": "λιτότητα"
},
{
"code": "grc",
"lang": "Ancient Greek",
"roman": "litótēs",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "λιτότης"
},
{
"code": "io",
"lang": "Ido",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"word": "litoto"
},
{
"code": "ga",
"lang": "Irish",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "liotóid"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "litote"
},
{
"code": "gv",
"lang": "Manx",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "fo-raa"
},
{
"code": "nb",
"lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "litot"
},
{
"code": "nb",
"lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "litotes"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "litota"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "litotes"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "litotes"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "litóta",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "лито́та"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"Cyrillic",
"feminine"
],
"word": "литота"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"Latin",
"feminine"
],
"word": "litota"
},
{
"code": "scn",
"lang": "Sicilian",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "lìtuti"
},
{
"code": "scn",
"lang": "Sicilian",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "litoti"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "litote"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "lítotes"
},
{
"code": "tl",
"lang": "Tagalog",
"sense": "rhetoric: stating a point by denying its opposite",
"word": "makumbaba"
}
],
"word": "litotes"
}
Download raw JSONL data for litotes meaning in English (7.7kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-03-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-03-02 using wiktextract (db0bec0 and 633533e). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.