Top 20 Figures of Speech

Using original figures of speech in our writing is a way to convey meanings in fresh, unexpected ways.
They can help our readers understand and stay interested in what we have to say.

1. Alliteration: The repetition of an initial consonant sound. Example: She sells seashells by the
seashore.

"Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers."

2. Anaphora: The repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or verses.
Example: Unfortunately, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time on the wrong day.

“Every day, every night, in every way, I am getting better and better.”

“My life is my purpose. My life is my goal. My life is my inspiration.”

“Buying diapers for the baby, feeding the baby, playing with the baby: This is what your life is when you
have a baby.”

“I want my money right now, right here, all right?”

3. Antithesis: The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases. Example: As Abraham Lincoln
said, "Folks who have no vices have very few virtues."

Neil Armstrong used antithesis when he stepped onto the surface of the moon in 1969 and said, "That's
one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."

4. Apostrophe: Directly addressing a nonexistent person or an inanimate object as though it were a

living being. Apostrophe is a figure of speech in which a speaker directly addresses someone (or
something) that is not present or cannot respond in reality. The entity being addressed can be an
absent, dead, or imaginary person, but it can also be an inanimate object (like stars or the ocean), an
abstract idea (like love or fate), or a being (such as a Muse or god).

Example: "Oh, you stupid car, yoApostrophe in Shakespeare's Macbeth

Apostrophe pops up all over the place in Shakespeare, as his characters often address abstract ideas or
inanimate objects while onstage. In Macbeth, while Macbeth is struggling with whether to follow
through with a planned murder, he sees an apparition of a dagger and addresses it:

Is this a dagger which I see before me,

The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.

I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.

Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible

To feeling as to sight?u never work when I need you to," Bert sighed.

5. Assonance: Identity or similarity in sound between internal vowels in neighboring words. Example:
How now, brown cow?

"Hear the mellow wedding bells" by Edgar Allen Poe.

"Try to light the fire"

"I lie down by the side fo my bride"/"Fleet feet sweep by sleeping geese"/"Hear the lark and harden to
the barking of the dark fox gone to ground" by Pink Floyd.

"It's hot and it's monotonous."

6. Chiasmus: A verbal pattern in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first but
with the parts reversed. Example: The famous chef said people should live to eat, not eat to live. The use
of chiasmus as a rhetorical device dates back to the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. Its traces
have been found in the ancient texts of Sanskrit, and also in ancient Chinese writings. Greeks, however,
developed an unmatched inclination for this device, and made it an essential part of the art of oration.

Example #1: Aeschylus, 5th Century B.C.

“It is not the oath that makes us believe the man,

but the man the oath.”

Example #2: Bias, 6th Century B.C.

“Love as if you would one day hate,

and hate as if you would one day love.”

7. Euphemism: The substitution of an inoffensive term for one considered offensively explicit. Example:
"We're teaching our toddler how to go pot Euphemism is frequently used in everyday life. Let us look at
some common euphemism examples:
You are becoming a little thin on top (bald).

Our teacher is in the family way (pregnant).

He is a little tipsy (drunk). ty," Bob said.

8. Hyperbole: An extravagant statement; the use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis or
heightened effect. Example: I have a ton of things to do when I get home.

My grandmother is as old as the hills.

Your suitcase weighs a ton!

She is as heavy as an elephant!

I am dying of shame.

I am trying to solve a million issues these days.

9. Irony: The use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning. Also, a statement or situation
where the meaning is contradicted by the appearance or presentation of the idea. Example: "Oh, I love
spending big bucks," said my dad, a notorious penny pincher.

11. Metaphor: An implied comparison between two dissimilar things that have something in common.
Example: "All the world's a stage."

12. Metonymy: A figure of speech in a 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. Example: "That stuffed suit with the briefcase is a poor excuse for a salesman," the manager said
angrily.

The pen is mightier than the sword, from Edward Bulwer Lytton’s play, Richelieu, contains two examples
of metonymy. “Pen” stands for thought and reason, while “sword” represents physical warfare.
Metonymy Example 2. “Hollywood” is not simply a place in Southern California; it is a metonymy for the
film industry.

13. Onomatopoeia: The use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they
refer to. Example: The clap of thunder went bang and scared my poor dog.

The buzzing bee flew away.

The sack fell into the river with a splash.

The books fell on the table with a loud thump.

He looked at the roaring

The rustling leaves kept me awake

14. Oxymoron: A figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory terms appear side by side.
Example: "He popped the jumbo shrimp in his mouth." Open secret

Tragic comedy

Seriously funny

Awfully pretty

Foolish wisdom

Original copies

Liquid gas

15. Paradox: A statement that appears to contradict itself. Example: "This is the beginning of the end,"
said Eeyore, always the pessimist.

Your enemy’s friend is your enemy.

I am nobody.
“What a pity that youth must be wasted on the young.” – George Bernard Shaw

Wise fool

Truth is honey, which is bitter.

“I can resist anything but temptation.” – Oscar Wilde

16. Personification: A figure of speech in which an inanimate object or abstraction is endowed with
human qualities or abilities. Example: That kitchen knife will take a bite out of your hand if you don't
handle it safely.

Look at my car. She is a beauty, isn’t she?

The wind whispered through dry grass.

The flowers danced in the gentle breeze.

Time and tide wait for none.

17. Pun: A play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes on the
similar sense or sound of different words. Example: Jessie looked up from her breakfast and said, "A
boiled egg every morning is hard to beat. A horse is a very stable

Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

An elephant’s opinion carries a lot of weight

18. Simile: A stated comparison (usually formed with "like" or "as") between two fundamentally
dissimilar things that have certain qualities in common. Example: Roberto was white as a sheet after he
walked out of the horror movie.

Our soldiers are as brave as lions.

Her cheeks are red like a rose.

He is as funny as a monkey.

19. Synecdoche: A figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole. Example: Tina is
learning her ABC's in preschool.
The phrase “gray beard” refers to an old man.

The word “sails” refers to a whole ship.

The word “suit” refers to a businessman.

The word “boots” usually refers to soldiers

Activity:

Composition of Figurative Language for each kind and its literal meaning