Literary device

He's not the ugliest fellow around!

• Litotes

• Hyperbole

She’s not the sharpest knife in the box.

• Litotes

• Allusion

• Hyperbole

It wasn't too neighborly when he poisoned my poodle.

• hyperbole

• litotes

• You haven't slept in 48 hours. Saying, "I just need to rest my eyes for a minute," is ______.

• Hyperbole

• Understatement

A form of speech which contains an expression of less strength than what would be expected. In satire, the understated language may be ironic.

• undertatement
• hyperbole
• satire
• parody

His apartment is very small. It's absolutely ____

• Huge

• Tiny

• Fantastic

The ad described the house as small and cozy. But when the Davenports pulled into the driveway, they were disappointed at the ____________ which stood before them.

• residence

• shack

A statement that says less than it means; often used for comedic effect. Example: “I have to have this operation. It isn’t very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on the brain.” (J.D. Salinger, Catcher in the Rye)

• Understatement

• Hyperbole

• Metaphor

• Juxtaposition

understatement

• a kind of irony that deliberately represents something as being much less than it really is

• occurs when a speaker or narrator says one thing while meaning the oppisite

• a form of paradox that combines a pair of opposite terms into a single unusual expression

What is an understatement?

• A comparison using "like" or "as".

• A statement that gives non-human objects human characteristics.

• A statement that creter humor by saying something less significant than it is.

• an expressing whose meaning is different from the literal meaning.