Litotes

What are litotes?

Litotes are a form of understatement in which a negative sentence is used to make a positive point. It often follows the patterns ‘it’s not + negative’ (a double negative) or ‘it’s not + superlative’.

Litotes can be used in many different situations. However, in speaking they are often for joking, being modest, and being cruel.

Examples

Litote example	Meaning
Hmm, that’s not bad	That is pretty good
There’s not a lot	There is almost none
He’s not wrong	He is right
It wasn’t the best use of my time	I thought it was a waste of my time
This is not unlike the time I went to Rome	This is very similar to the time I went to Rome
She’s not the smartest girl in the class	She is a bit stupid
He isn’t the thinnest	He is quite fat
They aren’t the fastest	They are slow