oxymoron

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 29, 2023 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>oxymoron</strong> &#149; \ahk-sih-MOR-ahn\&nbsp; &#149; <em>noun</em><br /> <p>An oxymoron is a combination of words that have opposite or very different meanings, such as “cruel kindness” or “open secret.” In broader usage, <em>oxymoron</em> can also refer to something (such as a concept) that is made up of contradictory or <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incongruous">incongruous</a> elements.</p> <p>// Her favorite Shakespeare play, <em>Romeo and Juliet</em>, is filled with clever wordplay, including <em>oxymorons</em> such as “sweet sorrow” and “heavy lightness.”</p> <p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oxymoron">See the entry ></a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>“Until now I thought ‘enjoyable science book’ was an <em>oxymoron</em>. [Author, Katie] Spalding proved me wrong. I learned a lot and had fun doing it. Turns out a spoonful of snark helps the factoids go down—in a most delightful way.” — Curt Schleier, <em>The Star Tribune</em> (Minneapolis, Minnesota), 19 May 2023 </p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>The ancient Greeks exhaustively classified the elements of <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rhetoric">rhetoric</a>, or effective speech and writing, and gave the name <em>oxymoron</em>—literally "pointed foolishness"—to the deliberate juxtaposing of seemingly contradictory words. The roots of <em>oxymoron</em>, <em>oxys</em> meaning "sharp" or "keen," and <em>mōros</em> meaning "foolish," are nearly <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/antonym">antonyms</a> themselves, making <em>oxymoron</em> nicely self-descriptive. <em>Oxymoron</em> originally applied to a meaningful <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paradox">paradox</a> condensed into a couple of word