Definition-

Oxymoron is a type of figure of speech which shows contrast between two words or phrases used together having opposite meanings. As with other rhetorical devices oxymoron is used for various purposes. It’s used to show emotions, create drama and make the reader stop and think, whether he has to laugh or become serious concerning the oxymoron.

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Meaning

Oxymorons are not meant to be taken literally because they are used in a way as an adverb but with opposite meanings to a verb. We often use oxymorons in our daily life without realizing it. Just like a paradox, an oxymoron is known as a “contradiction in terms,” although oxymorons and paradoxes are two different things. It is an ancient Greek word which means “sharply dull” or “cleverly stupid”. The interesting thing is that the meaning of oxymoron is an oxymoron itself. 

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Here are some examples of oxymoron-

• 1- awfully good
• 2- alone together
• 3- bittersweet 
• 4- climb down
• 5- close distance
• 6- grow smaller
• 7- jumbo shrimp
• 8- accurate estimate 
• 9- only option
• 10- same difference
• 11- original copy
• 12- passive-aggressive
• 13- seriously funny
• 14- small crowd
• 15- virtual reality 

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Conclusion-

In the above examples these oxymorons have deeper meanings and are more memorable than the words that lack contradiction which eventually helps in increasing the interest of the reader. It gives the writer an opportunity to be clever as well as funny. Oxymorons work greatly for jokes and witty statements. There is a famous oxymoron which you must have heard but didn’t know that it was an oxymoron- “All the pain he had endured was as nothing compared with the exquisite agony of this.”

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—Jack London, The Call of the Wild. 

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