Oxymoron
An oxymoron joins two words or ideas that seem to contradict each other, creating a striking phrase such as deafening silence or sweet sorrow. Poets use oxymorons to capture mixed feelings, sharpen contrasts, or suggest a truth that ordinary language cannot state as neatly.
Example
The bitter honey of memory stayed
on my tongue long after you were gone.
Related Definitions
[n] conjoining contradictory terms (as in `deafening silence')
Related Terms
absurdity, ambiguity, ambivalence, antinomy, asymmetry, crux, dilemma, disproportion, disproportionateness, enigma, equivocality, equivocation, Gordian knot, heresy, heterodoxy, heterogeneity, hopelessness, impossibility, impossible, impossibleness, incoh