See litotes in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for litotes meaning in English (7.3kB)
{
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "LL.",
"3": "lītotēs"
},
"expansion": "Learned borrowing from Late Latin lītotēs",
"name": "lbor"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "grc",
"3": "λιτότης",
"lit": "plainness"
},
"expansion": "Ancient Greek λιτότης (litótēs, literally “plainness”)",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "grc",
"2": "λιτός",
"3": "",
"4": "simple"
},
"expansion": "λιτός (litós, “simple”)",
"name": "m"
}
],
"etymology_text": "Learned borrowing from Late Latin lītotēs, from Ancient Greek λιτότης (litótēs, literally “plainness”), from λιτός (litós, “simple”).",
"forms": [
{
"form": "litotes",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "~",
"2": "litotes"
},
"expansion": "litotes (countable and uncountable, plural litotes)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"hyphenation": [
"li‧to‧tes"
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"antonyms": [
{
"word": "hyperbole"
}
],
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Serbo-Croatian terms with redundant script codes",
"parents": [
"Terms with redundant script codes",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"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",
"parents": [
"Language",
"Communication",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w"
}
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "litotic"
},
{
"word": "litotical"
},
{
"word": "litotically"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"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": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"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",
"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"
]
],
"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"
],
"translations": [
{
"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"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/laɪˈtəʊ.tiːz/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-litotes.wav",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b7/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Wodencafe-litotes.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Wodencafe-litotes.wav.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b7/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Wodencafe-litotes.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Wodencafe-litotes.wav.ogg",
"tags": [
"US"
],
"text": "Audio (US)"
},
{
"audio": "Litotes.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/da/Litotes.ogg/Litotes.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Litotes.ogg",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
],
"text": "Audio (RP)"
},
{
"enpr": "lītō'tēz"
}
],
"word": "litotes"
}
{
"derived": [
{
"word": "litotic"
},
{
"word": "litotical"
},
{
"word": "litotically"
}
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "LL.",
"3": "lītotēs"
},
"expansion": "Learned borrowing from Late Latin lītotēs",
"name": "lbor"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "grc",
"3": "λιτότης",
"lit": "plainness"
},
"expansion": "Ancient Greek λιτότης (litótēs, literally “plainness”)",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "grc",
"2": "λιτός",
"3": "",
"4": "simple"
},
"expansion": "λιτός (litós, “simple”)",
"name": "m"
}
],
"etymology_text": "Learned borrowing from Late Latin lītotēs, from Ancient Greek λιτότης (litótēs, literally “plainness”), from λιτός (litós, “simple”).",
"forms": [
{
"form": "litotes",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "~",
"2": "litotes"
},
"expansion": "litotes (countable and uncountable, plural litotes)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"hyphenation": [
"li‧to‧tes"
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"related": [
{
"word": "paradiastole"
},
{
"word": "double negative"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"antonyms": [
{
"word": "hyperbole"
}
],
"categories": [
"English 3-syllable words",
"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 IPA pronunciation",
"English terms with audio links",
"English terms with quotations",
"English uncountable nouns",
"Serbo-Croatian terms with redundant script codes",
"en:Figures of speech",
"en:Rhetoric"
],
"examples": [
{
"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": "quotation"
}
],
"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"
]
],
"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"
]
},
{
"audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-litotes.wav",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b7/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Wodencafe-litotes.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Wodencafe-litotes.wav.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b7/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Wodencafe-litotes.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Wodencafe-litotes.wav.ogg",
"tags": [
"US"
],
"text": "Audio (US)"
},
{
"audio": "Litotes.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/da/Litotes.ogg/Litotes.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Litotes.ogg",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
],
"text": "Audio (RP)"
},
{
"enpr": "lītō'tēz"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"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"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-30 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (210104c and c9440ce). 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.
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