Many definitions from: The American Heritage ® Dictionary of the English Language,
Third Edition copyright © 1992 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Electronic version licensed from InfoSoft International, Inc. All rights reserved.
| Figure of Speech |
Definition |
Example |
| alliteration |
The repetition of the same consonant sounds or of different vowel sounds at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables |
"on scrolls of silver snowy sentences" (Hart Crane) |
| anacoluthon |
An abrupt change within a sentence to a second construction inconsistent with the first, sometimes used for rhetorical effect |
"I warned him that if he continues to drink, what will become of him?" |
| anadiplosis |
Rhetorical repetition at the beginning of a phrase of the word or words with which the previous phrase ended |
"He is a man of loyalty--loyalty always firm." |
| anaphora |
The deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several successive verses, clauses, or paragraphs |
"We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills" (Winston S. Churchill) |
| anastrophe |
Inversion of the normal syntactic order of words |
"Matter too soft a lasting mark to bear" (Alexander Pope) |
| anthropomorphism |
Attribution of human motivation, characteristics, or behavior to inanimate objects, animals, or natural phenomena. |
|
| antiphrasis |
The use of a word or phrase in a sense contrary to its normal meaning for ironic or humorous effect |
"a mere babe of 40 years" |
| antithesis |
A figure of speech in which sharply contrasting ideas are juxtaposed in a balanced or parallel phrase or grammatical structure |
"Hee for God only, shee for God in him" (John Milton) |
| antonomasia |
The substitution of a personal name for a common noun to designate a member of a group or class |
calling a traitor a "Benedict Arnold" |
| aposiopesis |
A sudden breaking off of a thought in the middle of a sentence, as though the speaker were unwilling or unable to continue. |
This sentence is an example of— |
| assonance |
Resemblance of sound, especially of the vowel sounds in words |
"that dolphin-torn, that gong-tormented sea" (William Butler Yeats) |
| catachresis |
Strained use of a word or phrase, as for rhetorical effect. |
The Clifton Suspension Bridge, from which many a young person has jumped to their conclusion. |
| chiasmus |
A rhetorical inversion of the second of two parallel structures |
"Each throat/Was parched, and glazed each eye" (Samuel Taylor Coleridge) |
| circumlocution |
The use of unnecessarily wordy and indirect language. |
|
| double-entendre |
A word or phrase having a double meaning, especially when the second meaning is risqué. |
|
| dysphemism |
the substitution of a harsh, disparaging, or unpleasant expression for a more neutral one. |
You idiot!, instead of That was unwise. |
| enallage |
the use of one grammatical form in place of another, as the plural for the singular in the editorial use of "we" |
We are not amused.(Queen Victoria) |
| epistrophe |
the repetition of a word or words at the end of two or more successive verses, clauses, or sentences |
"I should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong..." (Shakespeare) |
| epithet |
A term used to characterize a person or thing.
A term used as a descriptive substitute for the name or title of a person |
rosy-fingered in rosy-fingered dawn
the Great in Catherine the Great
The Great Emancipator for Abraham Lincoln
|
| equivoke |
An intentionally ambiguous word, phrase, or expression |
|
| euphemism |
The act or an example of substituting a mild, indirect, or vague term for one considered harsh, blunt, or offensive |
"neutralize" for "kill" |
| euphuism |
Affected elegance of language |
From these generic visits sprang an abiogenetic romance. |
| hyperbaton |
A figure of speech, such as anastrophe or hysteron proteron, using deviation from normal or logical word order to produce an effect |
|
| hyperbole |
A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect |
"I could sleep for a year" or "This book weighs a ton." |
| hysteron proteron |
A figure of speech in which the natural or rational order of its terms is reversed |
"bred and born" instead of "born and bred". |
| inversion |
A change in normal word order, such as the placement of a verb before its subject. |
|
| irony |
The use of words to express something different from and often opposite to their literal meaning. |
|
| litotes |
A figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite |
"This is no small problem" |
| logodaedely |
Cunning word-play |
|
| malapropism |
Ludicrous misuse of a word, especially by confusion with one of similar sound. |
|
| metaphor |
A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison |
"a sea of troubles" or "All the world's a stage" (Shakespeare) |
| metonymy |
A figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated |
the use of Washington for the United States government or of the sword for military power |
| oxymoron |
A rhetorical figure in which incongruous or contradictory terms are combined |
"a deafening silence" or "the little giant" |
| onomatopoeia |
The formation or use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to. |
buzz or murmur |
| palillogy |
the technique of repeating a word or phrase for emphasis. |
|
| paralipsis |
the suggestion, by deliberately concise treatment of a topic, that much of significance is being omitted |
"... not to mention other faults." |
| paronomasia |
Word play; punning |
|
| personification |
The representation of an object or concept as if it were a person. |
Wisdom calls aloud in the street. |
| portmanteau word |
A word formed by merging the sounds and meanings of two different words |
chortle, from chuckle and snort |
| preciosity |
Extreme meticulousness or overrefinement, as in language, taste, or style. |
|
| rhetoric |
Language that is elaborate, pretentious, insincere, or intellectually vacuous. |
|
| simile |
A figure of speech in which two essentially unlike things are compared, often in a phrase introduced by like or as |
"How like the winter hath my absence been" or "So are you to my thoughts as food to life" (Shakespeare) |
| spoonerism |
A transposition of sounds of two or more words, especially a ludicrous one |
Let me sew you to your sheet for Let me show you to your seat. |
| syllepsis |
A construction in which a word governs two or more other words but agrees in number, gender, or case with only one, or has a different meaning when applied to each of the words |
"He lost his coat and his temper" |
| synecdoche |
A figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole
the whole for a part
the specific for the general
the general for the specific
material for the thing from which it is made
|
hand for sailor
the law for police officer
cutthroat for assassin
thief for pickpocket
steel for sword
|
| tmesis |
The separation of the parts of a compound word, now generally done for humorous effect. |
abso-bloody-lutely
fan-f***ing-tastic |
| trope |
The figurative use of a word or an expression, as metaphor or hyperbole. |
|
| understatement |
Restraint or lack of emphasis in expression, as for rhetorical effect. |
|
| zeugma |
A construction in which a single word, especially a verb or an adjective, is applied to two or more nouns when its sense is appropriate to only one of them or to both in different ways |
"He took my advice and my wallet" |
