- The device of giving emphasis by professing to say little or nothing about a subject, as in not to mention their unpaid debts of several million.More example sentences
- ‘This is a rhetorician's little joke, Wittenberg comments, ‘based in the self-effacing irony of paralipsis’.
- Typically, a paralipsis is introduced by phrases such as "we need say nothing of" or "not to mention," as in: "The restaurant was dirty and noisy, not to mention the waiters."
- It is of greater advantage to create a suspicion by paralipsis [occulte fecisse] than to insist directly on a statement that is refutable.
late 16th century: via late Latin from Greek paraleipsis 'passing over', from paraleipein 'omit', from para- 'aside' + leipein 'to leave'.
More definitions of paralipsisDefinition of paralipsis in:
- The British & World English dictionary