January 5th - Word of the Day - Antithesis


an·tith·e·sis

[an-tith-uh-sis]

noun, plural -ses
1. opposition; contrast: the antithesis of right and wrong.

2. the direct opposite (usually followed by of  or to ): Her behavior was the very antithesis of cowardly.

3. Rhetoric .
     a. the placing of a sentence or one of its parts against another to which it is opposed to form a balanced contrast of ideas, as in “Give me liberty or give me death.”
     b. the second sentence or part thus set in opposition, as “or give me death.”

4. Philosophy . See under Hegelian dialectic.