Figures of Speech

Definition of a Figure of Speech

A figure of speech, according to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, is defined as “a word or phrase used in a different way from its usual
meaning in order to create a particular mental picture or effect.” The Cambridge Dictionary defines a figure of speech as “an expression
that uses words to mean something different from their ordinary meaning.” According to the Collins Dictionary, a figure of speech is “an
expression or word that is used with a metaphorical rather than a literal meaning.”

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a figure of speech as “ a form of expression (such as a simile or metaphor) used to convey
meaning or heighten effect often by comparing or identifying one thing with another that has a meaning or connotation familiar to the
reader or listener.” According to the Macmillan Dictionary, a figure of speech is defined as “an expression in which the words are used
figuratively, not in their normal literal meaning.”
Figures of Speech

● Simile – Rachel is as bright as the sun.

● Metaphor – The whole world is a stage.
● Personification – The wind whispered in my ears.
● Apostrophe – O William, you should be living now to see all this.
● Alliteration – Sally sold some seashells.
● Assonance – I seem to like your little green trees.
● Hyperbole – I am so hungry I could eat a horse.
● Oxymoron – Euthanizing their sick pet dog was considered as an act of kind cruelty.
● Epigram – The child is the father of man.
● Irony – A fire station burned down yesterday.
● Pun – Life depends upon the liver.
● Metonymy – The Bench decided that the man is guilty.
● Synecdoche – We need more hands to help us move this cupboard.
● Transferred Epithet – She had a sleepless night.
1 Alliteration

Alliteration is the repeating of consonant sounds right next to each other, which creates a memorable or

melodic effect.

Example: She sells seashells by the seashore.

Antithesis

Antithesis is a literary technique that places opposite things or ideas next to one another in order to draw out
their contrast.

Example: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . .” —Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

“Man proposes, God disposes.”

Antithesis
Apostrophe

Apostrophe as a figure of speech is when a character addresses someone or something that isn’t present or

cannot respond. The character might speak to someone deceased, an inanimate object, or a concept.

Example: “O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?” —William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
Circumlocution

Circumlocution is the use of a purposely wordy description. You can think of it as talking in circles.

Example: In the Harry Potter series, most characters don’t say Lord Voldemort’s name; instead, they use this circumlocution:
“He Who Must Not Be Named.”

For the time being it has been found necessary to make a readjustment of rations.

This is a circuitous way of saying, “We’ve stolen food,”

he was just stepping outside for a breath of fresh air rather than admit he snuck out.

Andy Dufresne: I understand you're a man who knows how to get things.
Red: I'm known to locate certain things from time to time.
Epigram

An epigram is a clever and memorable statement. You will find epigrams in speeches, poetry, and at the front

of a book.

Example: “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” —Eleanor Roosevelt
Epigram

Epigram
Euphemism

A euphemism is a way to say something in an understated manner, often to avoid difficult topics—like money,

death, or sex.

Example: Death can be an uncomfortable subject, so we’ve developed many euphemisms to avoid

confronting it head-on. Rather than telling a friend that a relative died, you might say they “kicked the bucket,”

“passed away,” or are “no longer with us.”

Hyperbole

Hyperbole is a deliberate exaggeration that adds emphasis, urgency, or excitement to a statement.

Example: If I don’t eat soon, I’m going to die of hunger.

Irony

Irony is a situation that subverts a reader’s expectations.

Example: One of the characters in your story is a hypochondriac, always convinced that they have an exotic

and incurable disease. An ironic ending for that character would be if they died of a common cold.
Litotes

Litotes use a double negative to create a positive.

Example: You’re not wrong.

Metaphor

A metaphor is the direct comparison of dissimilar things to create more vivid imagery or understanding.

Example: He was an onion; to understand him, she had to peel back the layers.
Metonymy

Metonymy is a literary device in which a word or object stands in for a closely related word or object.

Metonymy gives a writer more variability with descriptions.

Example: I thought his movies were better when they weren’t so Hollywood.

In metonymy, a word that is associated with something is used to refer to that thing, as when crown is

used to mean "king" or "queen," or when Mark Antony asks the people of Rome to lend him their ears

in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar.

Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia is a word that sounds like what it means.

Example: When a character is exasperated, they might exclaim, “Sheesh!” That’s both a word to show

exasperation and a sound that happens when you sigh loudly.

Oxymoron

An oxymoron is a phrase that uses two contradictory words to create a new meaning.

Example: That strawberry cake was awfully good.

Paradox

A paradox is a statement that appears to contradict itself but contains some truth, theme, or humor.

Example: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” —George Orwell, Animal

Farm
Paradox More examples
The Ship of Theseus, also known as Theseus's Paradox, is a philosophical thought experiment that asks whether an object
remains the same if all of its original parts are replaced over time:

The paradox was first recorded by Plutarch in his Life of Theseus in the late first century. However, other ancient philosophers,
such as Heraclitus and Plato, had previously discussed it. More recent philosophers who have considered the paradox include
Thomas Hobbes and John Locke.

The paradox can be applied to many different situations, including:

Human identity
As people grow, they shed things, their beliefs change, and their experiences teach them new ways of seeing the world. In
the same way, the Ship of Theseus slowly acquires new planks until none of the originals remain.
Technology
When we upgrade the battery or screen of our phone, or seal it over time, we still think of it as our phone.
Art conservation
When someone looks after an ancient painting, how much can they change it before it's no longer considered "original"?
Personification

Personification is assigning human attributes to nonhuman things.

Example: The floorboards groaned under the weight of each step.

Pleonasm

Pleonasm is the use of more words than necessary to convey meaning. A writer might use pleonasm for

humor or emphasis, or they might not realize they’re using extra words at all.

Example: The burning fire warmed the whole house.

"I saw it with my own eyes!"

"kick it with your feet." There is a looseness in his writing, as in the pleonasm "I myself."
Pun

A pun is a form of wordplay that purposely substitutes words that sound similar but have different meanings.

Example: “‘Mine is a long and a sad tale!’ said the Mouse, turning to Alice and sighing. ‘It is a long tail,

certainly,’ said Alice, looking down with wonder at the Mouse’s tail; ‘but why do you call it sad?’” —Lewis

Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Pun
Pun
Simile

A simile compares two dissimilar things using “like” or “as.” The goal of simile is to give the reader a more

vivid understanding of something.

Example: It was the first real day of summer, and by the time she came back indoors, she was as red as a

tomato.
Synecdoche

Synecdoche is when a smaller unit is used to signify a larger unit or vice versa.

Example: New England won the game by a touchdown. (Here, New England means New

England’s football team.)

Understatement

Understatement is the intentional downplaying of a situation. This can create a

humorous or deadpan effect in writing.

Example: “I have to have this operation. It isn’t very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on the
brain.” —J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

“I did alright” after winning an Olympic gold medal.

Transferred epithet
An epithet is a word or phrase which describes the main quality of someone or something.

For example: 'a happy person'.

Epithets are usually adjectives like 'happy' that describe a noun like 'person'.

Transferred epithet is when this adjective is transferred to a different noun like 'Happy birthday'.

Examples
'The builders were working at a dizzy height.'

Heights can't literally be dizzy, they have no feelings. The transferred epithet intensifies the height. How high up would you need to be to feel
dizzy?

More examples

● 'sleepless nights'
● 'a wonderful day'
● 'wide-eyed amazement'
● 'He pointed an angry finger at me.'
● 'She looked at him through concerned eyes.'
chiasmus

rhetoric
reversal of the order of words in the second of two parallel phrases

he came in triumph and in defeat departs

Rhetoric
inversion of the second of two parallel phrases, clauses, etc. (Ex.: she went to Paris; to
New York went he)

Rhetoric
a reversal in the order of words in two otherwise parallel phrases, as in “He went to the
country, to the town went she”
What is anaphora with an example?

Repetition of a word or expression at the beginning of successive

phrases, clauses, sentences, or verses especially for rhetorical or poetic
effect. Lincoln's "we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot
hallow—this ground" is an example of Anaphora
Anaphora