Meanings
plural antiphrases
- countablerhetoricuncountableUse of a word or phrase in a sense opposite of its literal meaning, especially for ironic or humorous effect.
When they called him “bad as hell”, they weren’t calling him evil. It was antiphrasis.
1 more example
By the turn of this century the situation concerning logic was quite simple: there was basically one logic (classical logic) which could be used (by changing the set of proper axioms) in various situations. Logic was about pure reasoning. Brouwer’s criticism destroyed this dream of unity: classical logic was not suited for constructive features and therefore it lost its universality. Now by the end of the century we are faced with an incredible number of logics-some of them only named ‘logic’ by antiphrasis, some of them introduced on serious grounds.
1991 June 20, Jean-Yves Girard, “On the unity of logic”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), number 59, North-Holland, page 201
Origin
- Ancient Greekἀντίφρασις
- Late Latinantiphrasis
- Englishantiphrasis
Borrowed from Late Latin antiphrasis, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek ἀντίφρασις (antíphrasis) (< phrazein "declare").
More words from Late Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan antífrasi
- antífrasiuse of a word or phrase in a sense not in accord with its literal meaning
Chinese Mandarin 反話 /反话
- 反話 /反话 (fǎnhuà)use of a word or phrase in a sense not in accord with its literal meaning
French antiphrase
- antiphraseuse of a word or phrase in a sense not in accord with its literal meaning
German Antiphrasis, Antiphrase
- Antiphrasisuse of a word or phrase in a sense not in accord with its literal meaning
- Antiphraseuse of a word or phrase in a sense not in accord with its literal meaning
Greek αντίφραση
- αντίφραση (antífrasi)use of a word or phrase in a sense not in accord with its literal meaning
Italian antifrasi
- antifrasiuse of a word or phrase in a sense not in accord with its literal meaning
Polish antyfraza
- antyfrazause of a word or phrase in a sense not in accord with its literal meaning
Portuguese antífrase
- antífraseuse of a word or phrase in a sense not in accord with its literal meaning
Spanish antífrasis
- antífrasisuse of a word or phrase in a sense not in accord with its literal meaning
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
antiphrasis. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/antiphrasis
“antiphrasis.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/antiphrasis. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “antiphrasis,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/antiphrasis.
Source: antiphrasis on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.