Understatement vs Litotes: What’s the Difference?

The difference at a glance

Understatement expresses something as less than it is for effect. Litotes is a specific rhetorical form of understatement that expresses a positive by denying its opposite (e.g., 'not bad').

What does Understatement mean?

noun · /ˈʌn.dər.steɪt.mənt/

The presentation of something as less significant, smaller, or less serious than it actually is — often for ironic, polite, or humorous effect. British understatement is particularly celebrated: calling a catastrophe 'a bit unfortunate'.

Understatement in a sentence

'A minor setback' for a decade of failed attempts — understatement as armor, as dignity, as refusal to be pitied.

Scott's polar diaries deploy understatement with devastating effect: the calmness of the language intensifies the horror.

What does Litotes mean?

noun · /ˈlʌɪtəʊtiːz/

A figure of speech involving understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary — saying 'not unhappy' rather than 'happy', or 'not bad' rather than 'excellent'.

Litotes in a sentence

The British weather was 'not entirely unpleasant' — litotes for sunshine.

'Not bad at all' is a litotes that in English understatement can mean extraordinary.

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