109 Examples of Funny Oxymorons

Whether you know it or not, oxymorons are part of your regular vocabulary. Derived from the Greek words “oxy,” which means “Sharp or acute,” and “moros,” which means “dumb or dull,” an oxymoron is a combination of words that contradict themselves. So an oxymoron is actually an oxymoron. How about that?

The official Merriam-Webster definition of the word oxymoron states that an oxymoron is “a combination of contradictory or incongruous words.” Other common and funny oxymorons you might have heard include “act naturally,” “jumbo shrimp,” and “old news.” All these phrases consist of two opposite words that go together and somehow everyone understands what they mean.

Oxymorons have been in use for centuries, with the term first believed to have been coined sometime during the 17th century. One of the earliest known examples can be found in William Shakespeare’s classic Hamlet, where he writes “O heavy lightness! Serious vanity!” As for who came up with the phrase, there is a lot of conjecture. Some believe it was Edward Reynold, who in 1640 is believed to have written the words “mortibus vivimus,” which translates to “living death,” while others claim it was John Ray who coined the phrase in his 1678 book A Collection of English Proverbs. Whichever is true, oxymorons have been part of the English language for close to four hundred years.

These days, most people use oxymorons as a way to emphasize or highlight something. As they are often absurd, they can also be a popular source for puns and jokes. Funny oxymorons are a great way to add humor and playfulness to your everyday speech and give your prose a little comedy. They are so popular author Simon Brett and illustrator Paul Thomas released the book, Seriously Funny and Other Oxymorons, that is well worth a read.

To show how these contradictory words can cause you a good belly laugh, we have searched high and low to bring you some funny oxymorons that are part of modern pop culture. These include famous oxymorons used in everyday life to those spoken and sung in the movie and music industry. See how many of these you can fit into your next conversation.

Common Oxymoron Expression Used in Everyday Life

1. Act natural

2. Random order

3. Bittersweet

4. Grow smaller

5. Only choice

6. Civil War

7. Alone together

8. Working vacation

9. Bad luck

10. Definite possibility

11. Awfully good

12. Exact estimate

13. Student teacher

14. Old news

15. Weapons of peace

16. Original copy

17. Virtual reality

18. Plastic silverware

19. Jumbo shrimp

20. Negative income

21. True fiction

22. Poor health

23. Old boy

24. Awfully pretty

25. Found missing

26. Resident alien

27. Baggy tights

28. Deafening silence

29. Simply impossible

30. Crash landing

31. Silent scream

32. Genuine imitation

33. Big baby

34. Recent history

35. True lies

36. Cruel kindness

37. Open secret

38. Vegetarian meatballs

39. Online privacy

40. Clearly misunderstood

41. Unbiased opinion

42. Living dead

43. Small crowd

44. Controlled chaos

45. Good grief

46. Legally drunk

47. Soft rock

48. New classic

49. Dull roar

50. Sweet sorrow

51. Foolish wisdom

52. Extinct life

53. Synthetic natural gas

54. Passive aggressive

55. Even odds

56. Terribly pleased

57. Minor miracle

58. Seriously funny

59. Friendly fire

60. Definitely maybe

61. Taped live

62. Business ethics

63. Militant pacifistt

64. Exact estimate

65. Intense apathy

66. New tradition

67. Home office

68. Liquid gas

69. Long sleeve t-shirt

70. Numb sensation

71. Rolling stop

72. Same difference

73. Barely dressed

74. Almost done

Oxymoron Examples in Popular Culture

75. Urban Cowboy (1980 movie)

76. “Alone Together” by Fall Out Boy

77. “Begin Again” by Taylor Swift

78. Eyes Wide Shut (1999 movie)

79. Buried Alive (1999 movie)

80. “It’s, like, a safety bomb.” – Iggy from James Patterson’s The Angel Experiment

81. “Hello, Goodbye” by the Beatles

82. Definitely, Maybe (2008 film)

83. “Cruel to Be Kind” by Nick Lowe

84. Night of the Living Dead (1968 film)

85. “The Sound of Silence” by Simon & Garfunkel

86. “Parting is such sweet sorrow” from William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet

87. Dead Man Walking (1985 movie)

88. “Forever Young” by Bob Dylan

89. “A Boy Named Sue” by Johnny Cash

90. “All your perfect imperfections” – John Legend lyrics from the song “All of Me”

91. Back To The Future (1985 movie)

92. “His honor rooted in dishonor stood, And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true,” – Alfred from Lord Tennyson’s Idylls of the King

93. “Bitter Sweet Symphony” by the Verve

94. Dead Again (1991 movie)

Funny Oxymoron Quotes From Famous People

95. “Women have to harness their power – it’s absolutely true. It’s just learning not to take the first no. And if you can’t go straight ahead, you go around the corner.” – Cher

96. “It usually takes more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.” – Mark Twain

97. “You’d be surprised how much it costs to look this cheap.” – Dolly Parton

98. “It’s sick and twisted and violent. Other than that it is totally G-rated.” – Elizabeth Cruickshank

99. “A lot of people never use their initiative because no one told them to.” – Banksy

100. “Spare no expense to save money on this one.” – Samuel Goldwyn

101. “Life is indeed precious and I believe the death penalty helps to affirm that fact.” – Edward I. Koch

102. “Always live within your income, even if you have to borrow money to do so.” – Josh Billings

103. “I distinctly remember forgetting that.” – Clara Barton

104. “The best cure for insomnia is to get a lot of sleep.” – W. C. Fields

105. “We must believe in free will. We have no choice.” – Isaac Bashevis Singer

106. “If Lincoln were alive today he’d be turning over in his grave.” – Gerald R. Ford

107. “The first condition of immortality is death.” – Stanislaw Jerzy Lec

108. “A verbal contract isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.” – Samuel Goldwyn

109. “Drive on the parkway, park in the driveway.” – George Carlin