Can anyone tell me what an oxymoron is?

Answer 1

An oxymoron (plural oxymora or, more commonly, oxymorons) (noun) is a figure of speech that combines two normally contradictory terms.

Have a look at some examples here:
http://www.fun-with-words.com/oxym_example.html

Answer 2

An oxymoron is when someone places two words together that have totally opposite meanings to come up with a new phrase. Usually, the meaning of the new phrase is negative. An example: Pretty ugly.

Hope that helps...

Answer 3

what joy is describing Onomatopoeia

An oxymoron (plural oxymora or, more commonly, oxymorons) (noun) is a figure of speech that combines two normally contradictory terms. Oxymoron is a Greek term derived from oxy ("sharp") and moros ("dull"). The meaning is "that which is sharp and dull," thereby designating and also exhibiting an opposition between two adjectives which serve as predicates for one subject.

Oxymorons are a proper subset of the expressions called contradictions in terms. What distinguishes oxymora from other paradoxes and contradictions is that they are used intentionally, for rhetorical effect, and the contradiction is only apparent, as the combination of terms provides a novel expression of some concept, such as "cruel to be kind".

The most common form of oxymoron involves an adjective–noun combination. For example, the following line from Tennyson's Idylls of the King contains two oxymora:

"And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true"
Oxymorons can also be wooden irons or sideroxylons in that they are in violation of the Principle of contradiction which asserts that nothing can be thought if it contains contradictory characteristics, predicates, attributes, or qualities


military intelligence

Answer 4

Oxymoron, combination of two seemingly contradictory or incongruous words, as in the line by the English poet Sir Philip Sidney in which lovers are said to speak “of living deaths, dear wounds, fair storms, and freezing fires.”

Answer 5

Oxymoron is technical a deliberate combination of two words that seem mean the opposite of each other, such as 'cruel kindness'.*

Answer 6

oxymoron happens when 2 opposite words situated next to each other... u can find it mostly in poems... here is one example on oxymoron in a poem that I've studied.. "sweet unrest" from the poem "bright star! would i were steadfast as thou art" by John Keats.. try to think about it... how can it be sweet when u are in unrest situation?

Answer 7

From Dictionary.com
a figure of speech by which a locution produces an incongruous, seemingly self-contradictory effect, as in “cruel kindness” or “to make haste slowly.”
A rhetorical figure in which incongruous or contradictory terms are combined, as in a deafening silence and a mournful optimist
(oxy-1) + mōrós dull

Answer 8

A phrase which contains opposing elements such as:
jumbo shrimp (where jumbo means very large and shrimp can mean very tiny).
By the way Joy, you are talking about onomatopoeia

Answer 9

two words that seem to be contrary words in a phrase

examples

jumbo shrimp
jumbo is big
shrinp is small
that is an oxymoron

but the phase makes sense

Answer 10

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxymoron