Definition of Double negative

1. Noun. An affirmative constructed from two negatives. "A not unwelcome outcome"

Generic synonyms: Affirmative

2. Noun. A grammatically substandard but emphatic negative. "I don't never go"
Generic synonyms: Negative

Definition of Double negative

1. Noun. (pejorative rhetoric) A phrase in which there are two negative words or their compounds (e.g. no, not, never, none, etc), occasionally leading to ambiguity in the meaning, but necessary in some foreign languages. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of Double Negative

double knit
double layer
double leg circle
double life
double lock standing seam
double loop hernia
double magnum
double magnums
double meaning
double membrane
double minute
double minute chromosomes
double modal
double modals
double negative
double negatives
double obeli
double obelisk
double obelus
double open jaw
double or nothing
double or quits
double outlet right ventricle
double over
double pedicle flap
double penetration
double planet
double planets
double play

Literary usage of Double negative

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage by Inc. Merriam-Webster (1994)
"Might could (which see) seems to be a still flourishing speech form in the Southern US There are other combinations at OUGHT. double negative Otto Jespersen ..."

2. English Usage: Studies in the History and Uses of English Words and Phrases by John Lesslie Hall (1917)
"Why should the double negative be treated in this volume ? ... By no means; but he will show that the double negative lived on in very considerable vigor ..."

3. Syntax of the Moods and Tenses of the Greek Verb by William Watson Goodwin (1890)
"The subjunctive and the future indicative are used with the double negative ... double negative ..."

4. The American Language: An Inquiry Into the Development of English in the by Henry Louis Mencken (1921)
"The double negative Syntactically, perhaps the chief characteristic of vulgar American is its sturdy fidelity to the double negative. So freely is it used, ..."

5. Mechanically Inclined: Building Grammar, Usage, and Style Into Writer's Workshop by Jeff Anderson (2005)
"Then, you've used a double negative, but that double negative serves to soften the ... Personally, I'd never tell my students that the double negative is ..."

6. Syntax of the Moods and Tenses in the New Testament Greek by Ernest De Witt Burton (1892)
"When two simple negatives not constituting a double negative, or a compound negative followed by a simple negative, occur in the same clause, ..."

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