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What is the difference between soliloquy and oxymoron?

soliloquy | oxymoron |

As nouns the difference between soliloquy and oxymoron

is that soliloquy is the act of a character speaking to themselves so as to reveal their thoughts to the audience while oxymoron is a figure of speech in which two words with opposing meanings are used together intentionally for effect.

As a verb soliloquy

is to issue a soliloquy.

soliloquy

English

(wikipedia soliloquy)

Noun

(soliloquies)
  • (drama) The act of a character speaking to themselves so as to reveal their thoughts to the audience.
    • At the end of the second act the main villain gave a soliloquy detailing his plans to attack the protagonist.
  • A speech or written discourse in this form.
  • *

    • Usage notes

    Primarily used of theater, particularly the works of (William Shakespeare), as a term of art, particularly for finely-crafted speeches. An archetype is the “(To be or not to be)” soliloquy in (Hamlet). In informal speech or discussions of popular culture, the term monologue is used instead, generally in a pejorative sense, suggesting that the speaker is a self-centered boor who won’t shut up.

    Synonyms

    * (speech or written discourse) monologue

    Antonyms

    * (discourse of a single person) colloquy, dialogue, dialog

    Hypernyms

    * locution * oration

    Derived terms

    * soliloquist * soliloquize

    Related terms

    * solo, solitude * locution – see other terms on same loquor root

    See also

    * apostrophe * stage whisper

    Verb

  • (very, rare) To issue a soliloquy.

    • Synonyms

    * soliloquize (much more common)

    oxymoron

    English

    (wikipedia oxymoron)

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • A figure of speech in which two words with opposing meanings are used together intentionally for effect.
  • * A famous example is Milton, Paradise Lost , Book 1, ll. 63-4:
    • No light, but rather darkness visible
    Serv'd only to discover sights of woe
  • * Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet , Act 1. Scene 1, in which Romeo utters nine oxymora in just six lines of soliloquy:
    • Why then, O brawling love', O ' loving hate ,
    O anything, from nothing first create,
    O heavy lightness'! ' Serious vanity !
    Mis-shapen chaos of well-seeming forms,
    Feather of lead', '''bright smoke''', '''cold fire''', ' sick health ,
    Still-waking sleep , that is not what it is!
    This love feel I, that feel no love in this.
  • (general) A contradiction in terms.

    • Usage notes

    * Historically, an (term) was "a (paradox) with a point",Jebb, Sir Richard (1900). Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments, with critical notes, commentary, and translation in English prose. Part III: The Antigone] . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. where the contradiction seems absurd at first glance, and yet is deliberate, its purpose being to underscore a point or to draw attention to a concealed point. The modern usage of (term) as a synonym for the simpler contradiction in terms is considered incorrect by some speakers and writers, and is perhaps best avoided in certain contexts. (See also the [[w:oxymoron, Wikipedia article].)

    Derived terms

    * oxymoronic * oxymoronically * oxymoronicness

    Related terms

    * moron * oxy- * paradox * sophomore

    See also

    *

    References

    External links

    * List of oxymorons * Lee’s Complete Oxymoron List], with discussion of classification ([http://web.archive.org/web/20080617020051/http://lee.critesclan.com/oxymorons.html archive) English autological terms English oxymorons