Oxymorons: An Awfully Good Guide to this Contradiction in Terms

If you’ve been living in the UK for a while, you might have heard the word ‘moron’ thrown about a bit. An oxymoron has absolutely nothing to do with that.  

An oxymoron is a linguistic tool where two or more opposing words are put next to each other to create a unique feeling or emotion. While a moron, as defined by the Cambridge English Dictionary, is simply a ‘very stupid person’.  

But what of the oxymoron? In this quick guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about this fun and creative figure of speech.  

What is an oxymoron? 

An oxymoron is a unique word or phrase that‘s made up of two or more words with contradictory definitions. Oxymorons can be good as they allow you to be creative and add emphasis to your descriptions. However, before you start playing around with oxymorons, you must have a good grasp of them first. 

A few examples of oxymorons in practice 

You don’t have to look far for an example of an oxymoron. The word itself is made up of two Greek words ‘oxys’ (meaning ‘sharp’) and ‘moros’ (meaning ‘dull’). The opposing meanings of the words sharp and dull are exactly what makes an oxymoron.  

Here are a few more examples of oxymorons in practice: 

•  There was a deafening silence when Will Smith gave Chris Rock a big slap. 

The words deafening and silence have opposing meanings, but in this context, they describe a silence that was so overpowering it felt deafening.  

• Love your curves and all your edges, all your perfect imperfections. 

We may as well continue the Hollywood theme with this oxymoron from the John Legend song All of Me. In this case, Legend’s partner’s flaws are what make her the perfect partner for him. How lovely.  

• There are also plenty of oxymorons used in everyday speech, such as crash landing, love-hate, seriously funny and awfully good (hence the title of this blog - aren’t we clever?). 

  
  

What is the purpose of the oxymoron? 

All this talk about oxymorons is great, but isn’t it a bit, well, unnecessary?  

Absolutely, the English language would still work perfectly well without the oxymoron, and as an English language learner, it’s not something you need to worry about. However, it is something to look out for when you read texts that include them, and soon enough, you may choose to use your own. Here are a few different reasons why you might choose to use an oxymoron. 

To add dramatic effect 

As a contradiction in terms, an oxymoron stands out and makes the reader or listener think a bit more carefully about the meaning of the words. It also makes your words more memorable, which is why oxymorons can work well to emphasise key points in your writing or a speech.  

A bit of fun 

Playing with language in this way can be a great way to show just how funny or clever you are. As an example, Andy Warhol once said, “I am a deeply superficial person”, which if you think about it, is pretty clever.  Oscar Wilde said, “I can resist anything but temptation”. And Dolly Parton conjured up perhaps the best oxymoronic phrase of all time, “You’d be surprised how much it costs to look this cheap.”  

To present words in a more expressive way 

Some words can be quite straightforward and unremarkable on their own, but when used in an oxymoron, they can become almost poetic. Just like placing contrasting colours together, the presence of opposing words highlights their differences and makes the words more powerful. For example, sweet sorrow is an oxymoron where both the words are presented in such a way that gives each a new resonance.