tapinosis means A figure of speech whereby something is given less importance by the name given it than it merits. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why “tapinosis” is a great word
A rhetorical figure in which something is belittled or described with undignified, understated, or degrading language. From Latin tapīnōsis ("depreciation"), from Ancient Greek ταπείνωσις (tapeínōsis, "a lowering, humiliation"), from ταπεινός (tapeinós, "low, humble"). First attested in English in 1589. Unlike litotes, which affirms by delicate negation, or hyperbole, which inflates for emphasis, tapinosis is a deliberate act of linguistic reduction, a forced humbling. It is the statesman dismissed as a "functionary," the masterpiece condemned as "daubings," the profound grief flattened into "a bother"—a quiet violence of vocabulary that shrinks the world by refusing to name its grandeur.
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin tapīnōsis (“depreciation”), itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek ταπείνωσις (tapeínōsis, “lowering”), from ταπεινός (tapeinós, “low”).
noun
- A figure of speech whereby something is given less importance by the name given it than it merits.