Top 10 similar words or synonyms for litotes

metonymy    0.710426

trope    0.688303

hyperbaton    0.688033

catachresis    0.684685

gnomic    0.674219

synecdoche    0.673891

hendiadys    0.673360

similes    0.663173

barbarisms    0.658122

aphorism    0.655529

Top 30 analogous words or synonyms for litotes

Article Example
Litotes The word litotes is of Greek origin, meaning "the property of being light (as opposed to heavy)", and is derived from the word "litos" meaning "plain, small or meager".
Litotes In French, "pas mal" (not bad) is used similarly to the English, while "il n'est pas antipathique" ("he is not disagreeable") is another example, actually meaning "il est très sympathique" ("he is nice"), though you don't want to admit it. Another typical example is "Ce n'est pas bête!" ("It's not stupid"), generally said to admit a clever suggestion without showing oneself as too enthusiastic. (As with all litotes, this phrase can also be used with its literal meaning that the thing is not stupid but rather may be clever or occupy the middle ground between stupid and clever.)
Litotes In Spanish, it is usual to say "No es nada tonto" ("It's not at all foolish"), as a form of compliment (i.e., to say something was smart or clever). Another common Spanish phrase is "menos mal" (cf. Italian "meno male" above), meaning literally "less bad," but \used in the same way as the English phrase "Thank goodness!"
Litotes In rhetoric, litotes (, or ) is a figure of speech that uses understatement to emphasize a point by stating a negative to further affirm a positive, often incorporating double negatives for effect. For example, "He's not bad looking" could express that someone is gorgeous—or could convey that he's neither particularly ugly or attractive. The degree of emphasis depends on context. For instance, the commonly used phrase "not bad" can indicate that something is either average or excellent. Along the same lines, litotes can be used to diminish the harshness of an observation; "He isn't the cleanest person I know" could be used as a means of indicating that someone is a messy person.
Litotes The term is generally synonymous with meiosis, which means to diminish the importance of something, often at the expense of something else.