Epigram
A short, witty, often satirical statement built on a clever turn.
An epigram is a brief, pointed statement that uses wit, paradox, or surprise to deliver its meaning. The form began as an inscription — the Greek epigramma meant literally a thing written on something — and grew into a celebrated short verse genre in Rome under Martial.
In modern prose, an epigram is the line that earns the laugh and the silence in the same breath. Oscar Wilde was its most quoted English-language practitioner; G. K. Chesterton, Dorothy Parker, and Mark Twain expanded it in different directions.
An epigram is engineered: it almost always pivots on a single word or clause that reverses the apparent meaning. That pivot is what makes it shareable, and what makes it dangerous when paraphrased.
“I can resist everything except temptation.”
Keep reading the glossary
A short, sharp statement that compresses a truth or observation into a single line.
A clever, often spontaneous remark that delivers humour through verbal ingenuity.
A neatly turned witty remark — literally a 'good word' in French.
A short rule for conduct, usually stated as a general principle.