litotes
Portuguese, noun/liˈtɔ.t͡ʃis/
litotes is spelled L-I-T-O-T-E-S (7 letters). Litotes is a Portuguese feminine noun meaning “litotes (an understatement employed for rhetoric effect)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) defines it as “o mesmo que lítotes”.
What does litotes mean in English?
noun
- 1
femininelitotes (an understatement employed for rhetoric effect)
Source: English Wiktionary, Portuguese section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Portuguese dictionaries define it
noun: 1. figura de linguagem que combina, frequentemente num eufemismo, a ênfase retórica com a ironia, em geral sugerindo uma ideia pela negação do seu contrário
noun: 1. o mesmo que lítotes
The definition in the Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), in Portuguese.
Source: Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
How do you pronounce litotes?
- Brazil /liˈtɔ.t͡ʃis/
- /liˈtɔ.t͡ʃiʃ/
- Portugal /liˈtɔ.tɨʃ/
Sources: English Wiktionary, Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to litotes
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.