1. the use of a negative or weak statement to emphasize a positive meaning, for example he wasn’t slow to accept the offer (= he was quick to accept the offer) Compare : understatement
   Wordfinder

   • alliteration
   • euphemism
   • figure of speech
   • hyperbole
   • image
   • litotes
   • metaphor
   • metonymy
   • onomatopoeia
   • paradox
   Topics
   Word Originlate 16th cent.: via late Latin from Greek litotÄ“s, from litos ‘plain, meagre’.

[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲