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Definition of litotes noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

litotes

noun
 
/laɪˈtəʊtiːz/
 
/laɪˈtəʊtiːz/
 [uncountable] (specialist)
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  1. the use of a negative or weak statement to emphasize a positive meaning, for example he wasn’t slow to accept the offer (= he was quick to accept the offer) compare understatement
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    Word Originlate 16th cent.: via late Latin from Greek litotēs, from litos ‘plain, meagre’.
See litotes in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
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