Figures of speech

Alliteration - The repetition of an initial consonant sound.

o Garrys giraffe gobbled gooseberryies greedily, getting good at grabbing

goodies.
o Freds friends fried Fritos for Fridays food.

Anaphora - The repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of

successive clauses or verses. (Contrast with epiphora and epistrophe.)

o The party was over and that upset everybody. (The party was over)
o The child wanted a pony but her parents didnt buy one for her. (pony)

Antithesis - The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases.

o Snow White and the Wicked Witch in Snow White.

o Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice.

Assonance - Identity or similarity in sound between internal vowels in neighboring

words.

o "Hear the mellow wedding bells"

o "Try to light the fire"

Chiasmus - A verbal pattern in which the second half of an expression is balanced

against the first but with the parts reversed.

o Do I love you because you're beautiful? Or are you beautiful because I love
you?
o The value of marriage is not that adults produce children, but that children
produce adults.

Euphemism - The substitution of an inoffensive term for one considered offensively

explicit.

o Big-boned instead of heavy or overweight

o Portly instead of heavy or overweight

Hyperbole - An extravagant statement; the use of exaggerated terms for the

purpose of emphasis or heightened effect.
 o They ran like greased lightning.
o He's got tons of money.

Irony - is using words where the meaning is the opposite of their usual meaning.

o After begging for a cat and finally getting one, she found out she was allergic.
o A traffic cop gets suspended for not paying his parking tickets.

Metaphor - An implied comparison between two unlike things that actually have
something important in common.

o America is a melting pot.

o Her lovely voice was music to his ears.

Metonymy - A figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for

another with which it's closely associated; also, the rhetorical strategy of describing
something indirectly by referring to things around it.

o The restaurant has been acting quite rude lately.

o Learn how to use your eyes properly!

Onomatopoeia - The use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the
objects or actions they refer to.

o The boulder hits the ground with a flump.

o Leaves rustle in the wind.

Oxymoron is two contradictory terms used together.

o Peace force
o Kosher ham

Paradox - A statement that appears to contradict itself.

o A rich man is no richer than a poor man.

o Nobody goes to that restaurant because it is too crowded.

Personification - A figure of speech in which an inanimate object or abstraction is

endowed with human qualities or abilities.

o She did not realize that opportunity was knocking at her door.
o He did not realize that his last chance was walking out the door.

Simile - A stated comparison (usually formed with "like" or "as") between two
fundamentally dissimilar things that have certain qualities in common.

o Your explanation is as clear as mud.

o Watching the show was like watching grass grow.
Synecdoche - A figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole (for
example, ABCs for alphabet) or the whole for a part ("England won the World Cup in
1966").

o The word sails is often used to refer to a whole ship.

o The phrase "hired hands" can be used to refer to workmen.

Understatement - is when something is said to make something appear less

important or less serious.

o It is sometimes dry and sandy - referring to the driest desert in the world.
o The weather is a little cooler today - referring to sub-zero temperatures.

Rosario P. Bohol
 10-Escoda
Figures of speech

Alliteration - The repetition of an initial consonant sound.

Walter walked wearily while wondering where Wally was.
Yarvis yanked you at yoga, and Yvonne yelled.

Anaphora - The repetition of the same word or phrase at the

beginning of successive clauses or verses. (Contrast with
epiphora and epistrophe.)
If my son moves to Florida, I will do that as well. (move to Florida)
The teacher was disappointed and so were his students. (disappointed)

Antithesis - The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced

phrases.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
Marcus Brutus and Mark Antony in Julius Caesar.

Assonance - Identity or similarity in sound between internal

vowels in neighboring words.
"It's hot and it's monotonous."
"The crumbling thunder of seas"

Chiasmus - A verbal pattern in which the second half of an

expression is balanced against the first but with the parts
reversed.
The art of progress is to preserve order amid change, and to preserve change
amid order.
Don't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things.
 Euphemism - The substitution of an inoffensive term for one
considered offensively explicit.
Chronologically-challenged instead of late
Comfort woman instead of prostitute

Hyperbole - An extravagant statement; the use of exaggerated

terms for the purpose of emphasis or heightened effect.
You could have knocked me over with a feather.
Her brain is the size of a pea.

Irony - is using words where the meaning is the opposite of their

usual meaning.
The Titanic was said to be unsinkable.
Dramatic irony is knowing the killer is hiding in a closet in a scary movie.

Metaphor - An implied comparison between two unlike things that

actually have something important in common.
Life is a roller coaster.
The alligators teeth are white daggers.

Metonymy - A figure of speech in which one word or phrase is

substituted for another with which it's closely associated; also, the
rhetorical strategy of describing something indirectly by referring
to things around it.
The library has been very helpful to the students this morning.
That individual is quite the silver fox.

Onomatopoeia - The use of words that imitate the sounds

associated with the objects or actions they refer to.
The snake slithers among the leaves.
The hail snaps small branches off the trees.

Oxymoron is two contradictory terms used together.

 Jumbo shrimp
Small crowd

Paradox - A statement that appears to contradict itself.

You shouldn't go in the water until you know how to swim.
If you didn't get this message, call me.

Personification - A figure of speech in which an inanimate object

or abstraction is endowed with human qualities or abilities.
The bees played hide and seek with the flowers as they buzzed from one to
another.
The wind howled its mighty objection.

Simile - A stated comparison (usually formed with "like" or "as")

between two fundamentally dissimilar things that have certain
qualities in common.
That is as easy as shooting fish in a barrel.
This contract is as solid as the ground we stand on .

Synecdoche - A figure of speech in which a part is used to

represent the whole (for example, ABCs for alphabet) or the whole
for a part.
The word "head" refers to cattle.
The word "wheels" refers to a vehicle.

Understatement - is when something is said to make something

appear less important or less serious.
I wont say it was delicious - referring to terrible food.
The tsunami caused some damage - referring to a huge tsunami
Christel Grace E. Guion
10-ESCODA