litotes means A figure of speech whereby something is stated by denying its opposite. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
litotes is pronounced /laɪˈtəʊ.tiːz/.
Why “litotes” is a great word
LITOTES — [Noun] A figure of speech in which a positive is expressed by the negation of its opposite, often for ironic understatement. Learned borrowing from Late Latin lītotēs, from Ancient Greek λιτότης (litótēs, literally 'plainness, simplicity'), from λιτός (litós, 'simple, plain'); first recorded in English 1650–60. Unlike hyperbole, which shouts through magnification, or meiosis, which dismisses through diminishment, litotes achieves its quiet force through a strategic absence, a negative space that implies a formidable presence. It is the diplomat’s 'not unsatisfactory' treaty, the survivor’s 'not unfamiliar' hardship, or the critic’s 'not unimpressive' performance — a rhetoric of restraint where what is left unsaid echoes louder than any declaration.
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Late Latin lītotēs, from Ancient Greek λιτότης (litótēs, literally “plainness”), from λιτός (litós, “simple”).
noun
- A figure of speech whereby something is stated by denying its opposite.“The delicacy which prompts a later generation to reject that name is by no means necessarily a result of stricter habits, is far more often due to the flatness which comes of untiring repetition and to the greater piquancy of litotes.”
- A figure of speech whereby something is stated by denying its opposite.; The negation of a negative quality to assert a positive.