different between oxymora vs oxymoron

English

Noun

oxymora

1. plural of oxymoron

Latin

Adjective

oxym?ra

1. nominative feminine singular of oxym?rus
2. vocative feminine singular of oxym?rus
3. nominative neuter plural of oxym?rus
4. accusative neuter plural of oxym?rus
5. vocative neuter plural of oxym?rus

Adjective

oxym?r?

1. ablative feminine singular of oxym?rus

English

Etymology

First attested in the 17th century, noun use of 5th century Latin oxym?rum (adj), neut. nom. form of oxym?rus (adj), from Ancient Greek ???????? (oxúm?ros), compound of ???? (oxús, “sharp, keen, pointed”) (English oxy-, as in oxygen) + ????? (m?rós, “dull, stupid, foolish”) (English moron (“stupid person”)). Literally "sharp-dull", "keen-stupid", or "pointed-foolish" – itself an oxymoron, hence autological; compare sophomore (literally “wise fool”), influenced by similar analysis. The compound form ???????? (oxúm?ron) is not found in the extant Ancient Greek sources.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?ks??m????n/
• (US) enPR: äk-s?-môr?-än, äk-s?-môr?-än, IPA^(key): /??ksi?m???n/, /?ks??m???n/

Noun

oxymoron (plural oxymorons or oxymora)

1. (rhetoric) A figure of speech in which two words or phrases with opposing meanings are used together intentionally for effect.
   • 1996, John Sinclair, "Culture and Trade: Some Theoretical and Practical Considerations", in Emile G. McAnany, Kenton T. Wilkinson (eds.), Mass Media and Free Trade: NAFTA and the Cultural Industries, University of Texas Press

     For Theodor Adorno and his colleagues at the Frankfurt School who coined the term, "culture industry" was an oxymoron, intended to set up a critical contrast between the exploitative, repetitive mode of industrial mass production under capitalism and the associations of transformative power and aesthetico-moral transcendence that the concept of culture carried in the 1940s, when it still meant "high" culture.

2. (loosely, sometimes proscribed) A contradiction in terms.

Usage notes

• Historically, an oxymoron was "a paradox with a point", or "pointedly foolish: a witty saying, the more pointed from being paradoxical or seemingly absurd" at first glance. Its deliberate purpose was to underscore a point or to draw attention to a concealed point. The common vernacular use of oxymoron as simply a contradiction in terms is considered incorrect by some speakers and writers, and is perhaps best avoided in certain contexts.

Antonyms

• pleonasm, redundancy

Derived terms

• oxymoronic
• oxymoronically
• oxymoronicity
• oxymoronicness

Related terms

Translations

See also

• Category:English oxymorons
• contranym

References

Further reading

• Oxymoron on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Lee’s Complete Oxymoron List, with discussion of classification (archive)