An oxymoron is a figure of speech in which two words with opposing meanings are used together for effect.
Interestingly, the word oxymoron is a compound of two words: (oxús – sharp, keen, pointed) and (mōrós – dull, stupid). Translated literally, you get sharp-dull or keen-stupid. In other words, “oxymoron” is itself an oxymoron. The common plural form is oxymorons, but the actual plural is oxymora.
Some examples of oxymorons include:
• jumbo shrimp
• act naturally
• pretty ugly
• open secret
• random order
• original copy
• small crowd
• only choice
• loosely sealed
• conspicuous absence
• minor crisis
There are many more, and we’re sure you can up with them…just remember, in order to create an oxymoron, you must have at least two words in a phrase and those two words should have opposite meanings.
