Tapinosis

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A figure of speech whereby something is given less importance by the name given it than it merits. rhetoric
  2. 2
    (rhetoric) A figure of speech whereby something is given less importance by the name given it than it merits. wordnet

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin tapīnōsis (“depreciation”), itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek ταπείνωσις (tapeínōsis, “lowering”), from ταπεινός (tapeinós, “low”).

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.