Found 2 items, similar to litotes.
English → English (WordNet) Definition: litotes litotes n : understatement for rhetorical effect (especially when expressing an affirmative by negating its contrary); "saying `I was not a little upset' when you mean `I was very upset' is an example of litotes" [syn: meiosis]
English → English (gcide) Definition: litotes Meiosis \Mei*o"sis\ (m[-i]*[=o]"s[i^]s), n. [NL., fr. Gr. mei`wsis, fr. meioy^n to make smaller, from mei`wn. See Meionite.] 1. (Rhet.) Diminution; a species of hyperbole, representing a thing as being less than it really is; understatement; see also litotes. [1913 Webster +PJC] 2. (Cell Biology) The cellular process by which a diploid progenitor cell forms haploid gametes, including a division of one diploid cell into two cells, each with one of the homologous sets of chromosomes. [PJC]