litotes

[ lahy-tuh-teez, lit-uh-, lahy-toh-teez ]

noun

, Rhetoric.

, plural li·to·tes.

1. understatement, especially that in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary, as in “not bad at all.”

litotes

/ ˈlaɪtəʊˌtiːz /

noun

1. understatement for rhetorical effect, esp when achieved by using negation with a term in place of using an antonym of that term, as in "She was not a little upset" for "She was extremely upset."

Word History and Origins

Origin of litotes¹

First recorded in 1650–60; from New Latin, from Greek lītótēs “plainness, simplicity, understatement (in rhetoric),” derivative of lītós “smooth, plain, simple”

Word History and Origins

Origin of litotes¹

C17: from Greek, from litos small

Example Sentences

I had never heard the word litotes, which means “words doctors use to remind you they’re smarter than you are.”

From Time

If you were feeling technical, you might call it "litotes" and Milton pulls a similar trick in his line: "Love, not the lowest end of human life".

From BBC

It's outlined in general and unemotional terms in the climactic sixth and seventh stanzas, with a faint touch of extra-dry humour in the litotes of "pointed questions", "whoever they had come to see", etc.

From The Guardian

Miosis, mī-ō′sis, n. diminution: litotes.

From Project Gutenberg

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. 

From Project Gutenberg