Question

which figure of speech is used in this text?
mr. wolfsheim, forgetting the more sentimental atmosphere of the old metropole, began to eat with ferocious delicacy.
—f. scott fitzgerald, the great gatsby

hyperbole
oxymoron

Explanation:

An oxymoron combines two contradictory terms. "Ferocious" (meaning fierce/violent) and "delicacy" (meaning fineness/tenderness) are opposing words paired together here. A hyperbole is an extreme exaggeration, which this phrase is not.

Answer:

oxymoron