LITOTES irony in that it is said as positive something that is precisely the opposite; literary figure belonging to 3 . 4 . OBLICUA FIGURES , (do not speak right) along with the 3 . 4 . 1 PERFRASIS or circumloquium, and 3 . 4 . 3 PARALIPSIS , or PRETERMISSION . Obliques are a subgroup of the 3 . THOUGHT FIGURES.