noun
- Plural of paraleipsis; a rhetorical device in which a speaker deliberately omits or passes over something while pretending to do so, often to draw attention to it.
Usage: literary; rhetoric; also spelled paralepsis or preterition
Examples
- The speaker used paraleipses to emphasize the scandal by saying, 'I won't even mention the corruption that occurred.'
- In her essay, she employed paraleipses to highlight the author's flaws without directly stating them.
- The politician's paraleipses—repeatedly saying 'I'm not going to discuss' certain topics—actually made them the focus of attention.
- Literary critics identified several paraleipses in the novel where the narrator pretended to skip over crucial details.
- By using paraleipses, the advertisement suggested the competitor's weakness without naming it outright.