Oxymoron Check

This rule identifies oxymorons - phrases that combine contradictory terms - in your writing. Oxymorons can weaken your message and create logical inconsistencies that confuse readers. While some oxymorons are used deliberately for literary effect, in technical and professional writing they often indicate imprecise thinking or careless word choice.

Examples

The rule will flag phrases like:

  • "amateur expert" - You can't be both amateur and expert
  • "increasingly less" - Something can't simultaneously increase and decrease
  • "found missing" - An object can't be both found and missing
  • "mandatory choice" - A true choice can't be mandatory
  • "organized mess" - Something can't be both organized and messy

These phrases will trigger an error message indicating that the combination is an oxymoron. For clearer writing, you should rephrase using more precise, logically consistent terminology.

Rule Source

This rule comes from: https://github.com/mesosphere/dcos-docs-site

Rule Definition

extends: existence
message: "'%s' is an oxymoron."
ignorecase: true
level: error
tokens:
  - amateur expert
  - increasingly less
  - advancing backwards
  - alludes explicitly to
  - explicitly alludes to
  - totally obsolescent
  - completely obsolescent
  - generally always
  - usually always
  - increasingly less
  - build down
  - conspicuous absence
  - exact estimate
  - found missing
  - intense apathy
  - mandatory choice
  - organized mess