Skip to content
Literary Devices

Figure of Speech

Litotes

Litotes is a form of understatement that affirms a quality by negating its opposite, as in not uncommon or no small achievement. The construction can express restraint, guarded approval, irony, or emphasis and does not require a grammatical double negative.

Litotes communicates an idea by denying its opposite: not unkind suggests kind without stating it directly. Identify the negated opposite and compare the restrained expression with the stronger positive meaning it implies.

Completing the rescue in that weather was no small achievement.
Negating small affirms that the achievement was substantial.

See it in language

Examples of Litotes

  1. Completing the rescue in that weather was no small achievement.

    Instructional example

  2. Her evidence was not unconvincing.

    Instructional example

    Negating unconvincing gives guarded rather than wholehearted approval.

  3. The final climb was no easy task.

    Instructional example

    Denying ease understates and thereby emphasizes the climb's difficulty.

Show more examples
  1. "I'm not saying you're wrong."
  2. "It's not a bad day."
  3. "He's not unattractive."
  4. "I'm not unfamiliar with that topic."
  5. "It's not the worst thing in the world."

Read like an editor

How to recognize it

  1. Locate a negated adjective or noun phrase whose opposite is being affirmed.
  2. Restate the implied positive meaning without the negation.
  3. Compare the force and tone of the indirect wording with the direct alternative.

Meaning and effect

Why writers use Litotes

Create emphasis
Negating an opposite can draw attention to the strength of the implied claim.
Create interpretive depth
The distance between literal negation and implied affirmation invites tonal judgment.
Develop tone
Indirect affirmation can sound restrained, ironic, cautious, or formal.

Common confusion

Litotes vs. Understatement

Litotes is a particular negation-based form of Understatement.

Litotes

Litotes affirms by negating an opposite.

“The rescue was no small achievement.”

Understatement

Understatement more broadly downscales intensity or significance.

“The collapsed roof was inconvenient.”

What's the Difference?

Follow the idea

Related devices

Questions readers ask

Frequently asked questions

Is litotes the same as a double negative?

No. Litotes negates an opposite to imply a positive or intensified meaning; it need not contain two grammatical negatives.

Why say not bad instead of good?

The litotic form can convey qualified approval, restraint, irony, or context-dependent emphasis.