Figures of Speech
1. Alliteration
The repetition of an initial consonant sound.
Example: She sells seashells by the seashore.
2. Anaphora
The repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive
clauses or verses.
Example: Unfortunately, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time on the
wrong day.
Figures of Speech
3. Antithesis
The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases.
Example: As Abraham Lincoln said, "Folks who have no vices have very
few virtues.“
4. Apostrophe
Directly addressing a nonexistent person or an inanimate object as
though it were a living being.
Example: "Oh, you stupid car, you never work when I need you to," Bert
sighed.
Figures of Speech
5. Assonance
Identity or similarity in sound between internal vowels in neighboring
words.
Example: How now, brown cow?
6. Chiasmus
A verbal pattern in which the second half of an expression is balanced
against the first but with the parts reversed.
Example: The famous chef said people should live to eat, not eat to
live.
Figures of Speech
7. Euphemism
The substitution of an inoffensive term for one considered offensively
explicit.
Example: "We're teaching our toddler how to go potty," Bob said.
8. Hyperbole
An extravagant statement, the use of exaggerated terms for emphasis
or heightened effect.
Example: I have a ton of things to do when I get home.
Figures of Speech
9. Irony
The use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning.
Also, a statement or situation where the meaning is contradicted by
the appearance or presentation of the idea.
Example: "Oh, I love spending big bucks," said my dad, a notorious
penny pincher.
10. Litotes
A figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an
affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite.
Example: A million dollars is no small chunk of change.
Figures of Speech
11. Metaphor
An implied comparison between two dissimilar things that have
something in common.
Example: "All the world's a stage.“
12. Metonymy
A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is substituted for
another with which it is closely associated; also, the rhetorical
strategy of describing something indirectly by referring to things
around it.
Example: "That stuffed suit with the briefcase is a poor excuse for a
salesman," the manager said angrily.
Figures of Speech
13. Onomatopoeia
The use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects
or actions they refer to.
Example: The clap of thunder went bang and scared my poor dog.
14. Oxymoron
A figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory terms
appear side by side.
Example: "He popped the jumbo shrimp in his mouth."
Figures of Speech
15. Paradox
A statement that appears to contradict itself.
Example: "This is the beginning of the end," said Eeyore, always the
pessimist.
16. Personification
A figure of speech in which an inanimate object or abstraction is
endowed with human qualities or abilities.
Example: That kitchen knife will take a bite out of your hand if you
don't handle it safely.
Figures of Speech
17. Pun
A play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and
sometimes on the similar sense or sound of different words.
Example: Jessie looked up from her breakfast and said, "A boiled egg
every morning is hard to beat."
18. Simile
A stated comparison (usually formed with "like" or "as") between two
fundamentally dissimilar things that have certain qualities in common.
Example: Roberto was white as a sheet after he walked out of the horror
movie.
Figures of Speech
19. Synecdoche
A figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole.
Example: Tina is learning her ABCs in preschool.
20. Understatement
A figure of speech in which a writer or speaker deliberately makes a
situation seem less important or serious than it is.
Example: "You could say Babe Ruth was a decent ballplayer," the
reporter said with a wink.
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