Trivia Time

Which phrase is an oxymoron?

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oxymoron

American  

[ok-si-mawr-on, -mohr-] / ˌɒk sɪˈmɔr ɒn, -ˈmoʊr- /

noun

Rhetoric.

• oxymora,
  plural
• oxymorons
  plural

1. 

   a figure of speech by which a locution produces an incongruous, seemingly self-contradictory effect, as in “cruel kindness” or “to make haste slowly.”

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oxymoron British  

/ ˌɒksɪˈmɔːrɒn /

noun

1. rhetoric an epigrammatic effect, by which contradictory terms are used in conjunction

   living death

   fiend angelical

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oxymoron Cultural  

1. A rhetorical device in which two seemingly contradictory words are used together for effect: “She is just a poor little rich girl.”

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• oxymoronic
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• oxymora
  plural
• oxymorons
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of oxymoron

First recorded in 1650–60; from Late Latin oxymorum, from presumed Greek oxýmōron (unrecorded), neuter of oxýmōros (unrecorded) “sharp-dull,” equivalent to oxý(s) “sharp” ( see oxy- ¹) + mōrós “dull” ( see moron)

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Explanation

Jumbo shrimp? Open secret? Use oxymoron to refer to a word or phrase that contradicts itself, usually to create some rhetorical effect. When Shakespeare's Juliet says, "Parting is such sweet sorrow," she is using an oxymoron; her apparently self-contradictory turn of phrase actually makes a neat kind of sense. Oxymoron is sometimes used to describe a word combination that strikes the listener as humorously contradictory, even if the speaker didn't intend it that way. The word oxymoron is itself an oxymoron; in Greek, oxy- means "sharp" or "wise," while moros means "foolish."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

oxymoron oxymorons

“Foreseeable future” is an oxymoron right up there with “jumbo shrimp.”

From Barron's ● May 1, 2026

He was, if we may use an oxymoron, a libertarian builder.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026

That sounds like an oxymoron: We don’t tend to expect illness or old age to create a problem in our life when we are young, but preparing for such eventualities is important.

From MarketWatch ● Dec. 9, 2025

Has the term “Dodgers organization” become an oxymoron?

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2024

When it hit me that act naturally was an oxymoron, I snorted.

From "Red Kayak" by Priscilla Cummings

As oxymorons go, it’s the operatic equivalent to Noam Chomsky’s famous syntactic puzzle “Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.”

From New York Times ● May 16, 2024

“People think ‘disabled’ and ‘hiker’ are oxymorons, like you can’t be disabled and go hiking, and that’s just not true at all,” Nagakyrie said.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 15, 2023

The story deals in oxymorons – bitter desire, weak power – and jolts to a conclusion that is harsh, cool, indelible.

From The Guardian ● Feb. 2, 2019

What it creates are these sports oxymorons, all in the hope of gaining fame by virtue of having none.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2018

So there we were, all of us laughing because we’d knocked out four oxymorons smack in a row—and that’s when we first saw the red kayak.

From "Red Kayak" by Priscilla Cummings

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