antiphrasis.
Use of a word or phrase in a sense opposite of its literal meaning, especially for ironic or humorous effect.
Meaning & usage
Use 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.
Where this word comes from
Borrowed from Late Latin antiphrasis, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek ἀντίφρασις (antíphrasis) (< phrazein "declare").
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.