1. A rhetorical device in which a speaker denies or refuses to say something while actually saying it, often to emphasize a point or create irony.
Usage: literary; rhetoric
2. In theology and philosophy, the approach of describing God or ultimate reality only through negation—stating what something is not rather than what it is.
Usage: philosophy; theology

Examples

• The politician used apophasis when she said, 'I won't mention my opponent's criminal record,' thereby bringing it up anyway.
• In apophasis, a speaker might say 'I'm not going to talk about the elephant in the room' to draw attention to an obvious problem.
• Medieval theologians employed apophasis to discuss God's nature, arguing that we can only know what God is not.
• The author's use of apophasis—'I won't say she was dishonest'—made the accusation more pointed than a direct statement would have.
• Apophatic theology suggests that the divine transcends human language and can only be approached through negation.