Figure of Speech
Definition
A figure of speech is an expression used to create a stronger effect on the reader or listener. It involves comparisons, contrasts, associations, exaggerations and creative constructions. It also provides a clearer picture of what is being conveyed.
Language that uses figures of speech is called figurative language. It is commonly used in novels, poems, essays, and plays. In contrast, literal language is direct and straightforward, as seen in road signs, office memos, and research writing.
Common Figures of Speech
1. Alliteration
Repetition of consonant sounds placed closely together to create a rhythmic or memorable effect.
Example:
She sells seashells by the seashore. (Sound of ‘S’)
2. Assonance
Use of words with similar vowel sounds placed close together.
Examples:
We bought eight bright dresses for the children. (Words – eight, bright)
They were trying to light the fire for such a long time. (Words – trying, light, fire, time)
3. Simile
Comparison of two things using ‘like’ or ‘as’.
Examples:
My brother and I fight like cats and dogs all the time.
My father has eyes like a hawk. He finds out even the minutest of things.
4. Metaphor
Direct or implied comparison where one thing is described as another.
Examples:
My mom has a heart of gold.
He is a lion when he comes to the field.
5. Transferred Epithet
A descriptive word is shifted from the noun it logically describes to another noun in the sentence.
6. Personification
Assigning human qualities to non-human things.
Examples:
The flowers danced to the wind.
Food is waiting for you.
7. Apostrophe
Addressing someone absent, dead, or an abstract idea or object.
Examples:
“O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done”
“Death, be not proud, though some have called thee”
8. Hyperbole
Deliberate exaggeration used for emphasis.
Examples:
Give me something to eat. I am dying.
I have told you hundreds of time not to touch my phone.
9. Oxymoron
Combination of contradictory terms to create meaning.
Examples:
That strawberry cake was awfully good.
She has failed in the exam is an open secret now.
10. Antithesis
Placement of contrasting ideas together to highlight contrast.
Examples:
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . .”
Keep your mouth closed and your eyes open.
11. Onomatopoeia
Words that imitate the sounds they describe.
Examples:
The buzzing bee flew away.
The sack fell into the river with a splash.
12. Synecdoche
A part represents the whole or the whole represents a part.
Examples:
“We need boots on the ground as quickly as possible”
“The class teachers should do the headcount in morning assembly”
“I came by a three-wheeler.”
13. Litotes
Use of double negatives to express a positive.
Example:
You’re not wrong.
14. Irony
Use of words to express the opposite of what is meant.
Examples of Verbal Irony:
Coming home to a big mess and saying, “it’s great to be back”.
Telling someone who has done something very stupid: “You are a genius”.
Examples of Situational Irony:
A fire station that burns down.
Marriage counselor divorcing the third wife.
Leaving a car wash at the beginning of a downpour.
15. Paradox
A statement that appears contradictory but contains truth.
Examples:
All people are equal, but some people are more equal than others.”
If you don’t risk nothing, you risk everything.
16. Pun
A form of wordplay using similar sounding words with different meanings.
Examples:
Her cat is near the computer to keep an eye on the mouse.
Make a tree and leave.
