n., pl., -mo·ra (-môr'ə, -mōr'ə), or -rons.
A rhetorical figure in which incongruous or contradictory terms are combined, as in a deafening silence and a mournful optimist.
[Greek oxumōron, from neuter of oxumōros, pointedly foolish : oxus, sharp; see oxygen + mōros, foolish, dull.]
oxymoronic ox'y·mo·ron'ic (-mə-rŏn'ĭk) adj.oxymoronically ox'y·mo·ron'i·cal·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
