Oxymoron

Oxymorons are quite often used in poetry, but can also be found in many different types of text as well as in everyday language.

Oxymoron meaning

An oxymoron is a figure of speech that puts two words next to each other with very different meanings that end up making sense in a strange way. The first word is usually used to describe the second word in a way that contrasts with it.

It might be quite hard to wrap your head around this definition - how on earth can opposites make sense together? Let's take a look at some examples to explain.

Oxymoron examples

Oxymorons are probably more common than you think. These examples should help you understand how oxymorons are used, and how two opposites together can make sense!

There are hundreds of oxymorons, so let's take a look at some of the most common ones.

Although oxymorons might seem quite complicated, you probably already know some, and perhaps even use oxymorons in everyday conversations. Have you ever heard the phrases, small crowd, going nowhere, or good grief? These are all commonly used oxymorons that use contrasting words to create new meanings.

We know that a crowd is usually a large group of people rather than a small one, that you can't actually be going nowhere, and we can see that good and grief are contrasting words. Once you are able to spot common oxymorons like these, it should get easier to identify and understand them when you come across them in literature.

Fig. 2 - Another example of an oxymoron is "old news."

Oxymoron in a sentence - examples in literature

Now that you have learned about what oxymorons are and how they are used, we will have a look at different uses of oxymorons in Literature (you might come across these in your exams!)

This is one of the most well-known oxymorons in Literature, said by Juliet in the famous play as she says goodbye to Romeo. The oxymoron is 'sweet sorrow', and shows that Juliet is sad that she has to say goodbye, but happy because she will be able to meet Romeo again. This shows how oxymorons can offer a deeper meaning.

This example is taken from a famous poem about the Irish rebellion against the British government. The oxymoron focuses on the difference between the 'terrible' things that occurred during the rebellion and the 'beauty' of the Irish as they sought independence. Once again, this is an example of an oxymoron being used to create a deeper meaning.

Our final example is taken from Byron's epic poem, Don Juan. It is trying to explain the connections between feelings of sadness and feelings of joy. This is a great example of how writers use oxymorons to make connections between things that aren't commonly connected.

Reminding ourselves that oxymorons are two words next to each other with very different meanings that end up making sense in a strange way, we can look at these examples and realize that we can make sense of what they are saying. There can be a sweet sorrow, a terrible beauty, or a melancholy merriment; we just have to consider the contrasting words a little bit longer to find the deeper meaning.

How do you know it's an oxymoron?

As we have already discovered, an oxymoron is a language device that uses contrast to create meaning. There are other types of language devices that also focus on contrast, and it can get quite confusing when you are trying to identify what type of language device you are looking at. It is always good to practice identifying different language devices and to learn the differences between them.

Oxymoron vs. juxtaposition

We already know what oxymorons are, so let's talk about some similar language devices that use contrast to highlight differences. Juxtaposition is a wider term; it is a language device that places two things close together that have a contrasting effect. An oxymoron is a specific type of juxtaposition that uses just two words.

Juxtaposition uses more than two words to contrast. So, if it's two words placed right together that contrast each other, it's probably an oxymoron.

Oxymoron vs. paradox

Another language device that contrasts two ideas is called a paradox.

This might sound a little confusing - so here's an example:

This is an easy example of a paradox. Logically, the sentence cannot be both 'true' and a 'lie' at the same time. If the sentence is a lie, it is telling us something that is true. If it is a true sentence, then it cannot be a lie.

An easy way to tell the difference between a paradox and an oxymoron is to look at the number of words. An oxymoron is the only type of language device that contrasts itself in only two words. For example:

Fig. 2 - 'Paper towel' is an example of an oxymoron!