A figure of speech in which a thought is balanced with a contrasting thought in parallel arrangements of words and phrases, such as "He promised wealth and provided poverty," or "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times , " or from Pope's An Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot: Willing to wound, and yet afraid to strike, Also, an antithesis is the second of two contrasting or opposing constituents, following the thesis
contrast of opposing words or ideas in a parallel construction "Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice; moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue " -- Barry Goldwater
Antithesis is derived from the Greek words a)nti/(anti) meaning "over against" and ti/qenai (tithenai) meaning "to set " Antithesis in literary terms refers to the scheme in which the author juxtaposes two contrapositional tenets in order to demonstrate a dialectic In philosophical terms antithesis is that utter dialectic opposition of two presuppositions
(plural: antitheses): Using opposite phrases in close conjunction Examples might be, "I burn and I freeze," or "Her character is white as sunlight, black as midnight " The best antitheses express their contrary ideas in a balanced sentence It can be a contrast of opposites: "Evil men fear authority; good men cherish it " Alternatively, it can be a contrast of degree: "One small step for a man, one giant leap for all mankind " Antithesis is an example of a rhetorical scheme Contrast with oxymoron, below
n antithetic, adj Diametrically opposite A word, idea, person, doctrine, proposition or thing that negates, is irreconcilable with, or represents the extreme opposite of another
Two opposite or contrasting words, phrases, or clauses, or even ideas example: "Bill's work in school was the antithesis of his sister's Her homework was tidy and ontime, while Bill's was sloppy and late " or " Darkness is the antithesis of light " or "New York is the antithesis of Nome Alaska "
Antithesis is a Greek term taken from the words [anti] meaning to be opposaed to, or against, and [thesis] meaning to set or lay down By implication thesis refers to a dissertation, viewpoint, or proposition which is being set down or argued
A figure of speech in which words and phrases with opposite meanings are balanced against each other An example of antithesis is To err is human, to forgive, divine (Alexander Pope)
The antithesis of something is its exact opposite. The little black dress is the anithesis of fussy dressing. = opposite. antitheses the complete opposite of something antithesis of