How to Use oxymoron in a Sentence

oxymoron

noun
  • The phrase “cruel kindness” is an oxymoron.
  • Those words are an oxymoron to me.
    — Josh Miller, Southern Living, 15 Aug. 2025
  • Cheap last-minute flights can feel like an oxymoron in the travel world.
    — Blane Bachelor, Condé Nast Traveler, 19 Mar. 2025
  • Most of the execs in the business think that's an oxymoron.
    — Jim Cramer, CNBC, 18 Jan. 2026
  • Finding the lowest rate and low lender fees can be a bit of an oxymoron.
    — Jeff Lazerson, Oc Register, 16 Apr. 2026
  • Healthy gooning, as any gooner can tell you, is an oxymoron.
    — Daniel Kolitz, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025
  • The thing that most struck me was the oxymoron (no longer) of standing outside in a hot wind.
    — Chris Mooney, Discover Magazine, 6 July 2011
  • Linen napkins may seem like an oxymoron but these are more for fashion than function.
    — Jessica Cherner, House Beautiful, 20 Jan. 2023
  • The concept itself may strike some as something of an oxymoron.
    — Jason Kehe, Wired, 8 July 2020
  • Still, a career in fashion sounded like an oxymoron back then.
    — Joshua Levine, WSJ, 19 Aug. 2017
  • The latter sounds like an oxymoron, as the best horror tends to send hearts racing.
    — Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 18 Oct. 2025
  • The Tibetans spend a lot of time living with death, if that isn't an oxymoron.
    — TheWeek, 17 May 2020
  • To give a man no incentive, yet ask him to be a model inmate is an oxymoron.
    — Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 5 Sep. 2024
  • Strength of schedule is an oxymoron the next few weeks for the Patriots.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 17 Sep. 2019
  • The term benevolent great power is an oxymoron.
    — Mishal Husain, Bloomberg, 15 May 2026
  • Each pound of jumbo shrimp (one of my favorite oxymorons) serves about 3 people at 7 shrimp each.
    — Caron Golden, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 July 2023
  • What sounds like an oxymoron mostly refers to synthetic products.
    — Denitsa Tsekova, Fortune, 23 Aug. 2019
  • Much like jumbo shrimp or a cool goatee, the concept of a great place to work has become somewhat of an oxymoron.
    — Chloe Berger, Fortune, 4 Apr. 2024
  • Something of an oxymoron for a city whose reputation is built on ruins.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 5 Apr. 2026
  • For critics of Marvel’s Phase Four, that might seem like a bit of an oxymoron.
    — Ken Makin, The Christian Science Monitor, 5 May 2023
  • But many people consider the phrase to be an Orwellian oxymoron.
    — Robert Hackett, Fortune, 10 Aug. 2020
  • That experience was both priceless and valuable — and that’s not an oxymoron.
    — Star Tribune, 23 Oct. 2020
  • The riff-laden metal song may be the best-sounding Nickelback song in years — and no, that is not an oxymoron!
    — Vulture, 7 Oct. 2022
  • This oxymoron doesn't match any data or statements from key businesses who say quite the opposite.
    — Ben Baldanza, Forbes, 6 May 2022
  • Ashley Chandrasinghe is a player to watch in the future - and that's not an oxymoron.
    — Tristan Lavalette, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2023
  • And Irish cuisine, once considered a bit of an oxymoron, is on full display in Dublin.
    — Sean Patrick Flynn, Travel + Leisure, 11 Oct. 2021
  • The whole concept of low-impact cardio exercises may sound like an oxymoron.
    — Jenny McCoy, SELF, 25 Mar. 2026
  • Ranting about the decline of comedy specials while releasing a new one at the same time feels a bit like an oxymoron.
    — Deputy Entertainment, Los Angeles Times, 27 Mar. 2026
  • If the phrase ‘rape-revenge comedy’ sounds like an oxymoron, this movie won’t convince you otherwise.
    — Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 17 Mar. 2023
  • The idea of an honest Prohibition agent was nearly an oxymoron.
    — Lillian Cunningham, Washington Post, 1 Jan. 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'oxymoron.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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