oxymoron

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: ox=y=mo=ron

CIDE DICTIONARY

oxymoron, n. [NL., fr. Gr. , fr. pointedly foolish; 'oxy`s sharp + mwro`s foolish.].

 A figure in which an epithet of a contrary signification is added to a word; e. g., cruel kindness; laborious idleness.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

oxymoron, n. rhet. a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction (e.g. faith unfaithful kept him falsely true).

Etymology

Gk oxumoron neut. of oxumoros pointedly foolish f. oxus sharp + moros foolish

THESAURUS

oxymoron

Gordian knot, absurdity, ambiguity, ambivalence, antinomy, asymmetry, crux, dilemma, disproportion, disproportionateness, enigma, equivocality, equivocation, heresy, heterodoxy, heterogeneity, hopelessness, impossibility, impossible, impossibleness, incoherence, incommensurability, incompatibility, inconceivability, incongruity, inconsistency, inconsonance, irony, irreconcilability, knot, knotty point, no chance, node, nodus, nonconformability, nonconformity, nonplus, paradox, perplexity, pons asinorum, poser, puzzle, quandary, self-contradiction, teaser, the impossible, unconformability, unconformity, unimaginability, unorthodoxy, unthinkability, vexed question, what cannot be, what cannot happen

ROGET THESAURUS

oxymoron

Unintelligibility

N unintelligibility, incomprehensibility, imperspicuity, inconceivableness, vagueness, obscurity, ambiguity, doubtful meaning, uncertainty, perplexity, spinosity, obscurum per obscurius, mystification, latency, transcendentalism, paradox, oxymoron, riddle, enigma, puzzle, diagnus vindice nodus, sealed book, steganography, freemasonry, pons asinorum, asses' bridge, high Dutch, Greek, Hebrew, jargon, unintelligible, unaccountable, undecipherable, undiscoverable, unknowable, unfathomable, incognizable, inexplicable, inscrutable, inapprehensible, incomprehensible, insolvable, insoluble, impenetrable, illegible, as Greek to one, unexplained, paradoxical, enigmatic, enigmatical, puzzling (secret), indecipherable, obscure, dark, muddy, clear as mud, seen through a mist, dim, nebulous, shrouded in mystery, opaque, dense, undiscernible, misty, hidden, latent, indefinite, garbled, perplexed, undetermined, vague, loose, ambiguous, mysterious, mystic, mystical, acroamatic, acroamatical, metempirical, transcendental, occult, recondite, abstruse, crabbed, inconceivable, inconceptible, searchless, above comprehension, beyond comprehension, past comprehension, beyond one's depth, unconceived, inexpressible, undefinable, incommunicable, unpredictable, unforeseeable, it's Greek to me.