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{%type%} Definitions

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Short "hint"

n. - Understatement for rhetorical effect (especially when expressing an affirmative by negating its contrary).

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Usage examples (30)
  • Saying `I was not a little upset' when you mean `I was very upset' is an example of litotes
  • I'm not obscenely uneducated, but I had to look up "litotes".
  • Belated kudos to ricky p., on that splendid "litotes" analogy.
  • They could be employing the subtle literary device of "litotes".
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