LYE-tuh-teez A commonly used figure of speech where a double negative is used to convey nuanced meaning — politeness, irony, emphasis, or modesty depending on the context. A form of understatement where a positive statement is expressed by negating it’s opposite. Examples: - “not bad” - “he isn’t dumb” - “no small achievement” - “it’s not my favorite” Litotes is an uncountable noun (like rice or water). Litotes is the singular form. The plural, also litotes, is more rarely used, but could be used to describe multiple instances of litotes such as the various litotes above. Origin: From Ancient Greek **litos** meaning ‘simple’ or ‘plain’ and suffix **tes** meaning ‘the state of quality of’. Literally ‘plainness’.