antithesis

Antithesis is a rhetorical device in which two opposite or contrasting ideas are placed in close proximity, usually in a parallel grammatical structure, to highlight their difference and create emphasis. The term derives from the Greek anti- "opposite" and thesis "placing" or "proposition".

The device serves to clarify distinctions, balance ideas, and sharpen an argument. By presenting opposites in a balanced form, antithesis can make a statement more memorable and persuasive. It can involve contrasting adjectives, nouns, verbs, or entire clauses. Classic examples include "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" and "Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country."

Antithesis is closely related to parallelism and juxtaposition. It differs from paradox, which presents a seemingly self-contradictory statement that contains a truth, and from chiasmus, where the elements are inverted in the second phrase. In everyday prose, antithesis helps clarify options and highlight moral or logical contrasts.

In philosophy and critical theory, antithesis also appears in dialectical usage, notably in Hegelian thought, where a thesis is opposed by an antithesis and the tension is resolved in a synthesis. In contemporary rhetoric, the term is often used more loosely to describe any deliberate contrast in language.