Litotes
Understatement by denying the opposite — not bad, no small feat, not unlike, hardly a disaster.
Full definition of Litotes →:: COMPARE ::
LitotesvsUnderstatement
The short answer
Both minimise. Litotes does it by negating the opposite, which quietly forces the reader to do the arithmetic — and a reader who has worked out your meaning is more persuaded than one who was told it.
Side by side
| Aspect | Litotes | Understatement |
|---|---|---|
| Mechanism | Negate the opposite | Diminish directly |
| Requires negation | Yes | No |
| Reader does work | Yes | Less |
| 'Not bad' | This one | — |
What each one means
Understatement
The contrast above sets out how Understatement differs from Litotes on the points that actually matter.