What's the opposite of "oxymoron"?

What's the opposite of oxymoron? That is, two words put together that seem identical?

Solution 1:

Merriam-Webster says:

oxymoron, noun : a combination for epigrammatic effect of contradictory or incongruous words

pleonasm, noun : the coincident use of a word and its substitute for the same grammatical function

tautology, noun : needless or meaningless repetition in close succession of an idea, statement, or word

I'm not quite sure how the use of one word can be coincident with another per M-W's definition, but looking at pleonasms.com, one sees these nuggets:

anonymous stranger

basic fundamentals

empty hole

...

I'd say pleonasm comes the closest to being the antonym of oxymoron, in spirit if not in truth.

Solution 2:

Try tautology. @alain-pannetier also made a good suggestion in the comments with pleonasm. The Wikipedia page explains the difference.

Solution 3:

These are nice, but only somewhat related to what I assume the original question is getting at, that is: if a good example of an oxymoron is an expression that involves both a contradiction and an ironic contrast between terms in the expression; the opposite or the reverse of an oxymoron might be an expression which involves an ironic reinforcement between terms in the expression. Neither a pleonasm or tautology assert any sense of irony or humor, as is inherent in an oxymoron.

If "military intelligence" is a good example of an oxymoron, "contempt of Congress" might be an example of the opposite. An oxymoron might give a sense of "these things that don't go together;" the reverse might be the sense of "duh, clearly these are related."