| Front | litotes \LYE-tuh-teez\ |
|---|---|
| Back | noun Understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of the contrary. e.g. not bad at all; this is no small problem [Greek litotes, from litos, plain.] "In another column, I expounded the art of litotes, by which we damn with faint praise or praise with faint damns. The usual example is, `She's not a bad soprano,' which is subtly different from saying that the lady is a good soprano." - James Kilpatrick, When Counseling Erring Writers, You Better Have Right Stuff, Denver Rocky Mountain News, Dec 28 1997. |
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