antithesis

Home > ... > Literature and the Arts > Language, Linguistics, and Literary Terms > Literature: General > ...

Essential reading Compare
side-by-side The Concise Oxford Companion ... Concise Oxford Companion to ... The Columbia Encyclopedia, ...

antithesis

antithesis , a figure of speech involving a seeming contradiction of ideas, words, clauses, or sentences within a balanced grammatical structure. Parallelism of expression serves to emphasize opposition of ideas. The familiar phrase "Man proposes, God disposes" is an example of antithesis, as is John Dryden's description in "The Hind and the Panther" : "Too black for heaven, and yet too white for hell."

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1E1-antithes" title="Facts and information about antithesis">antithesis</a>

Give this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

"antithesis." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 9 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"antithesis." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (November 9, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-antithes.html

"antithesis." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Retrieved November 09, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-antithes.html

Learn more about citation styles

ANTITHESIS

Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language | 1998 | | Â© Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language 1998, originally published by Oxford University Press 1998. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

ANTITHESIS [Stress: ‘an-TI-the-sis’].
1. In RHETORIC, a construction in which words are opposed but balanced: ‘For many are called, but few are chosen’ (Matthew 22:14); ‘To err is human, to forgive, divine’ (Pope, 1711). Technically, the first part of such constructions is the thesis (‘for many are called’), the second the antithesis (‘but few are chosen’).

2. In general usage, opposite: This policy is the antithesis of everything we believe in. See CHIASMUS.

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1O29-ANTITHESIS" title="Facts and information about antithesis">antithesis</a>

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

TOM McARTHUR. "ANTITHESIS." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 9 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

TOM McARTHUR. "ANTITHESIS." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (November 9, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-ANTITHESIS.html

TOM McARTHUR. "ANTITHESIS." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Retrieved November 09, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-ANTITHESIS.html

Learn more about citation styles

antithesis

The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature | 2003 | | Â© The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature 2003, originally published by Oxford University Press 2003. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

antithesis, a figure of speech in which sharply contrasted ideas are juxtaposed in a balanced or parallel phrase or grammatical structure, as in ‘Hee for God only, shee for God in him’ (Milton).

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1O54-antithesis" title="Facts and information about antithesis">antithesis</a>

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "antithesis." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 9 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "antithesis." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (November 9, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-antithesis.html

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "antithesis." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved November 09, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-antithesis.html

Learn more about citation styles

Related entries from encyclopedias, dictionaries and thesauruses

Rate these entries|See all related entries

Free newspaper and magazine articles

	The antithesis of the rural English landscape--street life in modern cities such as New York, Chicago, Moscow, and Paris--is the subject of a small photography show at the Smart Museum of Art in Chicago.(Current and coming)(Brief article) Magazine article from: The Magazine Antiques; 7/1/2008
	Pennmark the antithesis of luxury Manhattan residential.(Brief Article) Magazine article from: Real Estate Weekly; 1/30/2002
	RUSSIA: GLOBALIZATION SEEN GENERATING ITS ANTITHESIS IN RUSSIA.(Antiglobalism)(Government Activity)(International Pages)(Brief Article) Newspaper article from: IPR Strategic Business Information Database; 6/12/2001

Facts and information from other sites

Related articles from newspapers, magazines, and more

	The covenant of circumcision (Genesis 17:9-14) and the situational antitheses in Galatians 3:28 Magazine article from: Journal of Biblical Literature; 4/1/2003; ; 700+ words ; ...understood how the antithesis Jew/Greek...comprehend how the antitheses slave/free...Jew/Greek antithesis is abolished...three pairs of antitheses in Gal 3:28...angel/human antithesis to the other antitheses found elsewhere...
	Thesis and antithesis in Malcolm Bradbury's The History Man. Magazine article from: Journal of European Studies; 3/1/2003; ; 700+ words ; ...that history progresses from thesis to antithesis to synthesis is only a theory. It admits...way to its ideological opposite, or antithesis, and that the best features of the...dominated society would lead to its antithesis, the dictatorship of the proletariat...
	The Antithesis of the Ages: Paul's Reconfiguration of Torah Magazine article from: The Catholic Biblical Quarterly; 1/1/2003; ; 700+ words ; STEPHAN K. DAVIS, The Antithesis of the Ages: Paul's Reconfiguration...and Christ in terms of an inherent antithesis of history ("this age") and...texts understood to express this antithesis. By concentrating on the link he...
	Duo Antithesis on the South Bank Magazine article from: Musical Opinion; 3/1/2005; ; 407 words ; Duo Antithesis on the South Bank The occurrence of...particularly inspiring for the piano Duo Antithesis, the young Greek players Dimitris Karydis...dazzling conclusion. On this showing, Duo Antithesis constitute one of the finest two-piano...
	Judaism's antithesis Newspaper article from: Jerusalem Post; 2/6/2007; ; 700+ words ; ...SHAFRAN Jerusalem Post 02-06-2007 Headline: Judaism's antithesis Byline: AVI SHAFRAN Edition; Daily Section: Opinion Page...philosophy underlying the choice of cremation. It is the antithesis of the belief-system called Judaism. Keywords: Copyright...
	Jihad - the antithesis of monotheism Newspaper article from: Jerusalem Post; 8/29/2008; ; 700+ words ; ...Riskin Jerusalem Post 08-29-2008 Headline: Jihad - the antithesis of monotheism Byline: Shlomo Riskin Edition; Up Front Section...Al-Qaida culture of homicide-bomber terrorism, is the antithesis of ethical monotheism. George Weigel, a Catholic theologian...
	Outsourcing ban, visa curbs 'antithesis to globalization': Muthiah Newspaper article from: India Abroad; 6/13/2003; ; 658 words ; ...outsourcing of work to India as 'neo-protectionism' and 'an antithesis to globalization,' adding that jobs were lost in the U...leading to an attack on offshore procurement, which is an antithesis to globalization, he said. Curbs on movement of people between...
	Images of War and Peace: Parallelism and Antithesis in the Beginning and Ending of Cold Mountain.(Critical Essay) Magazine article from: The Mississippi Quarterly; 3/22/1999; ; 700+ words ; ...reduplicated by other characters, scenes, and symbols) and antithesis (where events and symbols demand dual, antithetical interpretation...in his own right. But meaning in that second scene is the antithesis of the first: instead of being the victim of a senseless...
	The bad and the beautiful: 'Grease' producer Allan Carr's 'antithesis of tacky'. Magazine article from: Daily Variety; 2/28/2006; ; 700+ words ; ...turn a stagnant and stale broadcast into what he called "the antithesis of tacky." He came up a bit short, presiding instead over...sung by Rob Lowe and Snow White (Eileen Bowman). And the "antithesis of tacky" didn't end there. Bob Hope and Lucille Ball...
	Antithesis of Middleburg I l ... Newspaper article from: The Washington Post; 8/4/2005; ; 700+ words ; ...Carolina, which is being held up as the model for the Salamander Inn development, and I have to say, it's pretty much the antithesis of Middleburg. It's certainly not a "small country inn," and from all accounts the way they make their money is by selling...