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Question

Difficulty: MediumFigurative Use of Language and Connotations

Read the sentence below carefully. What figure of speech is demonstrated by the underlined expression?

Answer:After overcoming numerous obstacles to secure the international grant, the lead investigator remarked that the team's achievement was 'no small accomplishment', an expression that employs 【litotes】 to emphasize success through deliberate understatement.

Answer

litotes
The expression 'no small accomplishment' negates the negative modifier 'small' to strongly affirm that the achievement was indeed great. This form of understatement through double negative or denial of the opposite is the exact definition of litotes.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Examine the structure of the expression 'no small accomplishment'.
The phrase uses a negative word ('no') combined with an antonym ('small') to express a positive statement ('a great/major accomplishment').
Analyzing how negation is paired with an opposite term reveals the underlying stylistic mechanism.
2
Identify the literary device that uses affirmative understatement by negating its opposite.
The device that intentionally understates a fact by denying its contrary is known as litotes.
Matching the rhetorical structure to its canonical definition confirms the correct figurative classification.

Key Concept

Litotes and Understatement in Figurative Usage
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Topics

Figurative Use of Language and Connotations

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