FIGURES OF SPEECH
1) Alliteration - The repetition of beginning sounds of the neighbouring words.
Eg: She sells seashells.
Walter wondered where Winnie was.
2) Anaphora is a technique where several phrases or verses begin with the same
word or words
Eg: I came, I saw, I conquered
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of
wisdom, it was the age of foolishness.
3) Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds (not just letters) in words that are
close together. The sounds don't have to be at the beginning of the word.
Eg: A - For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore.
E - Therefore, all seasons shall be sweet to thee.
I - From what I've tasted of desire, I hold with those who favor fire.
O - Oh hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.
U - Uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
4) Euphemism is a mild, indirect, or vague term that often substitutes a harsh,
blunt, or offensive term.
Eg: 'A little thin on top' instead of 'going bald.'
'Fell of the back of a truck' instead of 'stolen.'
'Letting you go' instead of 'firing you'.
Going to the other side for death
Passed away for die
5) Hyperbole uses exaggeration for emphasis or effect (Overstatement)
Eg: I've told you to stop a thousand times.
That must have cost a billion dollars.
I could do this forever.
She's older than dirt.
Everybody knows that.
6) Irony occurs when there's a marked contrast between what is said and what
is meant, or between appearance and reality.
Eg: "How nice!" she said, when I told her I had to work all weekend.
A traffic cop gets suspended for not paying his parking tickets.
7) Allusion - The act of alluding is to make indirect reference. It is a literary device,
a figure of speech that quickly stimulates different ideas and associations using
only a couple of words.
Eg : David was being such a scrooge!. (Scrooge" is the allusion, and it refers to
Charles Dicken's novel, A Christmas Carol. Scrooge was very greedy and unkind,
which David was being compared to.)
8) Antaclasis - It is a rhetorical device in which a word is repeated and whose
meaning changes in the second instance. Antanaclasis is a common type of pun.
Eg: Your argument is sound, nothing but sound
9) Anticlimax - Refers to a figure of speech in which statements gradually descend
in order of importance
Eg: She is a great writer, a mother and a good humorist
10) Antiphrasis - A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is used to mean the
opposite of its normal meaning to create ironic humorous effect. From the Greek :
anti "opposite" and phrasis, "diction"
Eg: She's so beautiful. She has an attractive long nose
11) Antithesis - The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases
Eg: Many are called, but few are chosen.
12) Apostrophe - Breaking off discourse to address some absent person or thing,
some abstract quality, an inanimate object, or a nonexistent character
Eg: "O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,
That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!
Thou art the ruins of the noblest man
That ever lived in the tide of times."
13) Cataphora - Refers to a figure of speech where an earlier expression refers to
or describes a forward expression. Cataphora is the opposite of anaphora, a
reference forward as opposed to backward in the discourse
Eg: After he had received his orders, the soldier left the barracks. (he is also a
cataphoric reference to the soldier which is mentioned later in the discourse.
14) Chiasmus - A verbal pattern in which the second half of an expression is
balanced against the first but with the parts reversed.
Eg: He knowingly led and we followed blindly
15) Climax - Refers to a figure of speech in which words, phrases, or clauses are
arranged in order of increasing importance
Eg: "There are three things that will endure: faith, hope, and love. But the
greatest of these is love."
16) Dysphemism - Refers to the use of a harsh, more offensive word instead of
one considered less harsh. Dysphemism is often contrasted with euphemism.
Dysphemisms are generally used to shock or offend.
Eg: Snail mail for postal mail.
17) Ellipsis - Refers to the omission of a word or words. It refers to constructions
in which words are left out of a sentence but the sentence can still be
understood.
Eg: So…what happened?
Um…I’m not sure that’s true.
…sure.
18) Litotes - A figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an
affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite.
Eg: He's not the friendliest person.
It wasn't a terrible trip.
She's not unkind.
19) Merism - It is a figure of speech by which something is referred to by a
conventional phrase that enumerates several of its constituents or traits.
Eg: Flesh and bone.
20) Metaphor - An implied comparison between two unlike things that actually
have something important in common
Eg: All the world's a stage,
-And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
-Time is money
-The world is a stage
21) Metaplesis - a figure of speech in which reference is made to something by
means of another thing that is remotely related to it, either through a causal
relationship, or through another figure of speech.
Eg: A lead foot is driving behind me.
22) Metonymy - A figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for
another with which it's closely associated; also, the rhetorical strategy of
describing something indirectly by referring to things around it.
Eg: Crown, The White house
23) Onomatopoeia - The use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the
objects or actions they refer to.
Eg: Clap, Murmer, Whosh, Buzz, Click
24)Oxymoron - A figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory
Eg: Dark light, Living dead, Peace force, Kosher ham
25) Paradox - A statement that appears to contradict itself.
Eg: Drowning in the fountain of eternal life
Deep down, you're really shallow.
26) Personification - A figure of speech in which an inanimate object or
abstraction is endowed with human qualities or abilities.
Eg: The flowers nodded.
The snowflakes danced.
The thunder grumbled
27) Pun - A play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and
sometimes on the similar sense or sound of different words.
Eg: "Atheism is a non-prophet institution."
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
I saw a documentary on how ships are kept together. Riveting!!
28) Simile - A stated comparison (usually formed with "like" or "as") between two
fundamentally dissimilar things that have certain qualities in common.
Eg: He fights like a lion.
Like peas in a pod
As blind as a bat
29) Synecdoche - A figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole
(for example, ABCs for alphabet) or the whole for a part
Eg: A hundred head of cattle
Coke - any cola drink
Hired hands - workers
30) Tautology - A statement that says the same thing twice in different ways, or a
statement that is unconditionally true by the way it is phrased.
Eg: Forward planning
It's a free gift.
