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Webster 1913 Edition


Paraleipsis


Parˊa-leip′sis

,
Noun.
[NL., fr. Gr. [GREEK], fr. [GREEK] to leave on one side, to omit;
παρά
beside + [GREEK] to leave.]
(Rhet.)
A pretended or apparent omission; a figure by which a speaker artfully pretends to pass by what he really mentions; as, for example, if an orator should say, “I do not speak of my adversary’s scandalous venality and rapacity, his brutal conduct, his treachery and malice.”
[Written also
paralepsis
,
paralepsy
,
paralipsis
.]

Definition 2024


paraleipsis

paraleipsis

English

Alternative forms

Noun

Examples

paraleipsis (plural paraleipses)

  1. (rhetoric, linguistics) A figure of speech in which one pretends to ignore or omit something by actually mentioning it, as in: "I will not speak of my adversary's scandalous venality and rapacity, his brutal conduct, his treachery and malice".

Translations

See also