Antiphrasis

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Antiphrasis \An*tiph"ra*sis\, n. [L., fr. Gr. ?, fr. ? to
     express by antithesis or negation.] (Rhet.)
     The use of words in a sense opposite to their proper meaning;
     as when a court of justice is called a court of vengeance.
     [1913 Webster] Antiphrastic



From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  antiphrasis
       n : the use of a word in a sense opposite to its normal sense
           (especially in irony)