Do you know any wise fools? Have you ever seen a jumbo shrimp? Experienced a deafening silence? Tasted bittersweet chocolate? Found a picture pretty ugly? Declared something awful good? Those are examples of oxymorons.

What, then is an oxymoron? Let's take a look.

What is an Oxymoron? Definition

According to Merriam-Webster, an oxymoron is “a combination of contradictory or incongruous words (such as cruel kindness).

In other words, an oxymoron is a figure of speech that catches our attention by juxtaposing two opposites or mutually exclusive terms to express an idea. Often, though, the words are contradictory or incongruous only when used with specific meanings.

What do I mean? Let's take a look at the examples in the first paragraph.

“The movie was awful good.” How can something be awful and good at the same time? Aren't they opposites? One meaning of “awful” is “exceedingly disagreeable or objectionable.” But in the phrase “awful good,” it's an intensifier with the meaning “exceedingly great.” So, we're really saying that something is exceedingly good; it just sounds like a contradiction because of awful's other meaning.

The same is true for “pretty,” which can mean “to some degree” as well as “pleasant to the vision or hearing.”

Shrimp as a noun is a kind of shellfish, and they are rated by comparative size, so a jumbo shrimp is a large shellfish, not a big little person—though that could be a valid oxymoron of its own.

Deafening has the extended meaning of “very noticeable,” so a deafening silence is one that catches your attention.

While the above examples may not be technically contradictory, they appear so, and we see them as oxymorons because of the words' other meanings. Two of the examples are truly contradictory, though.

Bittersweet means simultaneously distasteful and pleasant. The term comes from the sense of taste and is often applied to chocolate to describe dark chocolate with little sugar, so we get the sensation of chocolate's pleasant taste combined with acrid astringency.

What about a wise fool? We commonly call them sophomores. Second-year students in school carry the moniker because of their attitude: they often consider themselves wise but still remain ignorant. Or as the Apostle Paul puts it, “Claiming to be wise, they became fools.” (Romans 1:22 ESV)

Origin of Oxymoron

Where does the term come from?

Oxymoron is a combination of two Greek terms: oxy, “sharp” and mōros, “stupid.” It dates from the 1650s in the sense of “a figure of speech that conjoins words or terms that appear contradictory in order to make a point.” 

Today, it simply means two words that are (seemingly) contradictory or incongruous.

Oxymoron vs Paradox vs Contradiction in Terms

A paradox is also a figure of speech that places two contradictory things together.

The difference from an oxymoron is that a paradox juxtaposes contradictory ideas whereas an oxymoron places incongruous words together.

A contradiction in terms also juxtaposes two items that we consider mutually exclusive, but the words themselves are not contradictory. Two examples of this are military intelligence and business ethics.

Examples of oxymorons in literature

Literature is full of oxymorons. Here are a few examples.

“Parting is such sweet sorrow.” (William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet)

Related to our idea of bittersweet (see above), Romeo expresses the idea that the coming separation from Juliet saddens him, but being with her for the moment is pleasant.

“The shackles of an old love straitened him,
His honour rooted in dishonour stood,
And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true.” (Alfred Lord Tennyson, Idylls of the King)

In the poem, Lancelot is tempted by Elaine to cheat on Guinevere—who is cheating on King Arthur with Lancelot. The oxymorons (honour … dishonour; faith unfaithful, falsely true) make sharp the fact that by remaining faithful to Guinevere, Lancelot is being false to his king and friend.

“The Sounds of Silence.” (Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel)

The definition of silence is the absence of sound, so how can we have sounds of silence? The song addresses the difficulties people have communicating with one another.

“The bookful blockhead ignorantly read,
With loads of learned lumber in his head,
With his own tongue still edifies his ears,
And always list’ning to himself appears. (Alexander Pope, Essays of Criticism)

“Bookful blockhead” and “learned lumber” contrast wisdom (or at least education) with stupidity.

“Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health,
Still-waking sleep that is not what it is!” (William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet)

Romeo describes the contradictory emotions and aspects of love with this string of oxymorons that highlight his dramatic nature.

O serpent heart, hid with a flow’ring face!
Did ever dragon keep so fair a cave?
Beautiful tyrant, fiend angelical!
…
“A damnèd saint, an honorable villain!”
“Was ever book containing such vile matter
So fairly bound? O, that deceit should dwell
In such a gorgeous palace!”  (William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet)

Juliet is equally capable of oxymorons. In this speech, she has just learned that Romeo, whom she loves, has killed her cousin Tybalt. She expresses her conflicting emotions and perception of Romeo as her lover and the murderer of her kinsman.

60+ common oxymoron examples 

Literature isn't the only place we encounter oxymorons. They are common in daily life. We've already seen a few in the introduction. Here's a list of more. It is by no means exhaustive.

Idle restlessness

Same difference

Passive-aggressive

Frenemy (friend–enemy)

Waking dream

Deeply superficial

Cruel kindness

Tough love

Little Bighorn (A river, where Custer took his Last Stand)

Waking dreams

True Lies (Title of a movie)

Virtual reality

Small crowd

Seriously funny

Original copy

Wake up dead

Grow smaller

Alone together

Controlled chaos

Organized chaos

Deliberate mistake

Definite possibility

Unbiased opinion

Stand fast

Devout atheist

Silent scream 

Old news

Open secret

Peaceful war

Strangely familiar

Act natural

Agree to disagree

Make haste slowly

Truly false

Definitely undecided

Working holiday (vacation)

Unbiased opinion

Random order

Living dead

Honest thief

Friendly fire

Even odds

Exact estimate (43)

Bigger half

Civil war

Clearly misunderstood

Darkness visible

Deceptively honest

Eloquent silence

Deliberate speed

Found missing

Freezer burn

Good grief

Icy hot

Idiot savant

Lead balloon

Living sacrifice

Magic realism

Militant pacifist

Negative growth

Soft rock

Tragic comedy (Tragi-comedy)

Conventionally unconventional

Scalding coolness

Man child

Adult child

Liquid gas

Why use an oxymoron as a rhetorical device? 

Armed with an understanding of what an oxymoron is and examples from literature and everyday life, the questions remains: When and why should a writer use oxymorons?

Entertainment/Humor: Sometimes, it's simply fun to play with language, and creating oxymorons can inject humor into a text. And humor can be a powerful rhetorical device.

Irony: Oxymorons are, by their very nature, ironic. Employing them in a text brings that irony to the topic or story. 

Dramatic Effect: The incongruity of an oxymoron adds emphasis and can be used to make the text more dramatic. Look at the examples from literature again and note how the oxymorons add to the impact of the text.

Demonstrate Linguistic Skill: Sometimes, writers want to show off a bit. This is not generally recommended when writing a story that you want to attract readers, but sometimes, people enjoy a text for the writer's skill, and oxymorons can help demonstrate that skill.

Oxymorons are fun to find and sometimes brilliantly used. They are terrific examples of the flexibility of the English language. 

What are your favorite oxymorons? Share in the comments.