Irony & Understatement
Litotes
Expressing something by denying its opposite: “not bad” or “no small feat.” The indirect wording can sound restrained, modest, or ironic, depending on context.
“It was no small achievement”: denying smallness affirms the scale of the achievement.
Don't confuse it with. Meiosis is plain understatement without the negation mechanism; litotes specifically runs on negatives.
Examples
That was no small achievement.
Denying “small” affirms that the achievement was substantial.
Her performance was not unimpressive.
Negating “unimpressive” gives a restrained affirmation of praise.
Often used alongside this device
Explore devices that often appear in the same passages as litotes.
Anaphora 17 Asyndeton 14 Passive Voice 13 Irony 13 Metaphor 10 Polysyndeton 10 Hyperbole 9 Apposition / Appositive 9
The rest of the family
Irony Hyperbole Meiosis / Understatement Bathos Euphemism Periphrasis Apophasis