Examples of Oxymorons and What they Mean!

What is an oxymoron?

An oxymoron is usually two words with opposite meanings, like “old news,” “alone together,” or “seriously funny.” The word oxymoron is an ancient Greek word, which translates most closely to something like “sharply dull” or “cleverly stupid.” In speech oxymorons can give a sense of humor, irony, or sarcasm.

Take this sentence, for example:

“This was a minor crisis and the only choice was to cancel the product line,”.

There are two oxymorons in this sentence: “minor crisis” and “only choice.”

If you’re learning English as a second language, you might be confused right now.

If you have a closer look they stand in conflict with each other. A crisis is defined as a time of serious difficulty. Which means no crisis is unimportant or minor. Similarly, “choice” means more than one option, which is the exact opposite of “only.”

Examples of Oxymorons

1. accurate estimate
2. alone together
3. awfully good
4. bittersweet
5. climb down
6. close distance
7. grow smaller
8. only option
9. original copy
10. passive-aggressive
11. same difference
12. seriously funny
13. small crowd
14. virtual reality
15. cheerful pessimist
16. civil war
17. clearly misunderstood
18. cool passion
19. crash landing
20. cruel kindness
21. deafening silence
22. definitely maybe
23. dull roar
24. exact estimate
25. falsely true
26. found missing
27. freezer burn
28. friendly takeover
29. genuine imitation
30. good grief
31. growing smaller
32. guest host
33. historical present
34. humane slaughter
35. icy hot
36. impossible solution
37. joyful sadness
38. larger half
39. living dead
40. loud whisper
41. loyal opposition
42. magic realism
43. negative growth
44. old news
45. one-man band
46. only choice
47. open secret
48. paper towel
49. plastic glasses
50. poor health
51. pretty ugly
52. random order
53. sad smile
54. same difference
55. seriously funny
56. small crowd
57. soft rock
58. terribly good
59. theoretical experience
60. true fiction

Oxymorons Examples in a sentences

• The guy was seriously funny.
• Do you have the original copies that we asked for?
• Her new boyfriend is pretty ugly.
• My trip to Hawaii was primarily a working holiday.
• Be cautious on the playground, run slowly.

Can you think of any examples of oxymorons? Leave a comment below.

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