understatement
A figure of speech whereby something is made to seem smaller or less important than it actually is, either through phrasing or lack of emphasis, often for ironic effect.
Noun
- A figure of speech whereby something is made to seem smaller or less important than it actually is, either through phrasing or lack of emphasis, often for ironic effect.
- A master of understatement
- And that mode of expression is very demurring and self-deprecating. Victorian English was all about understatement. - 2004, Rowan Manahan, Where's My Oasis?:, page 158:
Synonyms: meiosis
- An instance of such phrasing or lack of emphasis; an incomplete statement.
- Now that's an understatement.
Synonyms: trivialization
Antonyms: exaggeration overstatement
- An incomplete disclosure that intentionally withholds relevant information.
Origin
From under- + statement or understate + -ment.