Meiosis (figure of speech)
Intentional understatement / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the figure of speech. For the type of cell division, see meiosis.
In rhetoric, meiosis is a euphemistic figure of speech that intentionally understates something or implies that it is lesser in significance or size than it really is. Meiosis is the opposite of auxesis, and is often compared to litotes.[1][2][3] The term is derived from the Greek μειόω ("to make smaller", "to diminish"). The satirical technique diminution often involves meiosis.[4]