Figure of Speech Definition Example "on scrolls of silver snowy alliteration The re repetition of of th the sa same co consonant sentences" (Hart Crane) sounds or of different vowel sounds at sentences" (Hart the beginning of words or in stressed syllables anacoluthon An ab abrupt ch change wi within a sentence to to a "I warned him that if he continues to drink, what will become of him?" second construction inconsistent with the first, sometimes used for rhetorical effect anadiplosis Rhetorical re repetition at at th the be beginning of of "He is a man of loyalty--loyalty a phrase of the word or words with always firm." which the previous phrase ended anaphora The deliberate repetition of a word or "We shall fight on the beaches, we phrase at the beginning of several shall fight on the landing grounds, successive verses, clauses, or paragraphs we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills" (Winston hills" (Winston S. Churchill) anastrophe Inversion of the normal syntactic order "Matter too soft a lasting mark to of words bear" (Alexander bear" (Alexander Pope) anthropomor anthropomorphism phism Attributi Attribution on of human motivation motivation,, characteristics, or behavior to inanimate objects, animals, or natural phenomena. antiphrasis The use of a word or phrase in a sense "a mere babe of 40 years" contrary to its normal meaning for ironic or humorous effect antithesis A figure of speech in which sharply "Hee for God only, shee for God in contrasting ideas are juxtaposed in a him" (John him" (John Milton) balanced or parallel phrase or grammatical structure antono onomasia The su substitution of of a personal nal na name for for calling a traitor a "Benedict a common noun to designate a member Arnold" of a group or class aposiopesis A sudden breaking off of a thought in This sentence is an example of— the middle of a sentence, as though the speaker were unwilling or unable to continue. assonance Resemblance of sound, especially of the "that dolphin-torn, that gongtormented sea" (William sea" (William Butler vowel sounds in words Yeats) catachresis Strained use of a word or phrase, as for The Clifton Suspension Bridge, rhetorical effect. from which many a young person has jumped to their conclusion. chiasmus A rhetorical inversion of the second of "Each throat/Was parched, and two parallel structures glazed each eye" (Samuel eye" (Samuel Taylor Coleridge) circ circum umlo locu cuti tion on The The use use of unne unnece cess ssar aril ily y wor wordy dy and and indirect language. doubl doublee-ent enten endr dree A wor word d or or phr phras asee hav havin ing g a doubl doublee meaning, especially when the second meaning is risqué. idiot!, instead of That dysphem hemism the substituti ution of a ha harsh, di dispar paraging, You idiot!, of That was unwise. or unpleasant expression for a more neutral one. enallage the use of one grammatical form in We are not amused.(Queen amused.(Queen place of another, as the plural for the Victoria) singular in the editorial use of "we"
the repetition of a word or words at the "I should do Brutus wrong, and end of two or more successive verses, Cassius wrong..." (Shakespeare) wrong..." (Shakespeare) clauses, or sentences rosy-fingered in rosy-fingered epithet A term used to characterize a person or rosy-fingered in dawn thing. Great in Catherine the Great A term used as a descriptive substitute the Great in The Great Emancipator for Emancipator for for the name or title of a person Abraham Lincoln equivoke An in intentionally am ambiguous wo word, phrase, or expression euphemism The act or an example of substituting a "neutralize" for "neutralize" for "kill" "kill" mild, indirect, or vague term for one considered harsh, blunt, or offensive euphuism Affected elegance of language From these generic visits sprang an abiogenetic romance. hyperbaton A figure of speech, such as anastrophe or hysteron or hysteron proteron, proteron, using deviation from normal or logical word order to produce an effect "I could sleep for a year" or year" or "This "This hyperbole A figure of speech in which book weighs a ton." exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect born" instead of "born hyste hysteron ron prote proteron ron A figure figure of speec speech h in which which the natur natural al "bred and born" instead of "born or rational order of its terms is reversed 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. "This is no small problem" litotes A figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite logodaedely Cunning word-play malap alaprropi opism Ludi Ludicr crou ouss mis misuse use of a wor word, espe especi cial allly by confusion with one of similar sound. metaphor A figure of speech in which a word or "a sea of troubles" or troubles" or "All "All the phrase that ordinarily designates one world's a stage" (Shakespeare) stage" (Shakespeare) thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison metonymy A figure of speech in which one word or the use of Washington of Washington for the for the United States government or government or of the phrase is substituted for another with of the which it is closely associated sword for sword for military military power "a deafening silence" or silence" or "the "the little oxymoron A rhetorical figure in which incongruous or contradictory terms are giant" combined onom onomat atop opoe oeiia The The for forma mattion or use use of of word wordss tha thatt buzz or buzz or murmur murmur imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to. palillogy the technique of repeating a word or phrase for emphasis. paralipsis the suggestion, by deliberately concise "... not to mention other faults." treatment of a topic, that much of significance is being omitted paronomasia Word play; punning Wisdom calls aloud in the street. per perso soni nifi fica cati tion on The The rep repre rese sent ntat atio ion n of an obje object ct or epistrophe
concept as if it were a person. chortle, from chuckle and snort portmante portmanteau au word A word formed formed by merging merging the sounds sounds chortle, and snort and meanings of two different words preciosity Extreme me meticulousness or 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 "How like the winter hath my essentially unlike things are compared, absence been" or been" or "So "So are you to my often in a phrase introduced by like or thoughts as food to life" as (Shakespeare) spoonerism A tr transposition of of so sounds of of two or or Let me sew you to your sheet for sheet for more words, especially a ludicrous one Let me show you to your seat. syllepsis A construction in which a word governs "He lost his coat and his temper" 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 hand for hand for sailor sailor synecdoche A figure of of speech in in wh which a part is the law for police police officer used for the whole cutthroat for cutthroat for assassin assassin the whole for a part thief for thief for pickpocket pickpocket the specific for the general steel for steel for sword sword the general for the specific material for the thing from which it is made tmesis The separation of the parts of a abso-bloody-lutely compound word, now generally done fan-f***ing-tastic for humorous effect. trope The figurative use of a word or an expression, as metaphor or hyperbole. unde unders rsta tate teme ment nt Rest Restra rain intt or or lac lack k of of emp empha hasi siss in in expression, as for rhetorical effect. zeugma A construction in which a single word, "He took my advice and my wallet" 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
