Guide to Figure of Speech: 16 Figures of Speech to Know

A figure of speech, also known as a rhetorical figure or figurative language, is a form of expression that deviates from the expected, normal use of words or phrases to demonstrate an idea or add weight to an opinion. When used to create deeper meaning in a work of prose or poetry, figures of speech are considered literary devices. Figures of speech can also be used to bolster an argument, in which case they are known as rhetorical devices.

Figures of speech are organized into two general categories: tropes and schemes. Tropes are figures of speech that use words non-literally to express a figurative meaning, such as simile and apostrophe. Schemes are stylistic figures of speech that play with sound and syntax by changing the word order or pairing words with similar sounds, such as alliteration and assonance.

There are dozens of different figures of speech in the English language that we use in both literature and everyday life. It would be nearly impossible to memorize them all, but learning to identify a few examples of figures of speech can help you become a better reader and writer.

1. 1. Alliteration: The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words in a sentence or phrase. For example, the common tongue twister “she sells seashells by the seashore” features repeating “s” and “sh” sounds.
2. 2. Anaphora: When the first word or the first set of words repeat across successive sentences, clauses, or phrases. For example, the famous lines in Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities reads “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,” with each clause beginning with the same phrase (“it was the”).
3. 3. Apostrophe: When a speaker addresses a third party that is not immediately present and can’t realistically respond. For example, someone might say, “Give me a lucky roll!” when gambling, but it would be unclear to whom they are speaking.
4. 4. Assonance: The repetition of the same vowel sounds across successive or closely spaced words in a sentence or phrase. For example, the tongue twister “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers” illustrates both alliteration (repeating “p” sounds at the beginning of words) and assonance (repeating “i” and “e” sounds within words). “She sells seashells by the seashore” is also an example of assonance, due to its repeating “e” sounds.
5. 5. Chiasmus: When a concept is repeated, but in reverse order and with different grammatical structures. For example, in the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the line “fair is foul and foul is fair” repeats the same language and concepts, but in reverse.
6. 6. Euphemism: The replacement of a harsh or offensive phrase with a softer or indirect expression. For example, one might say “they passed away” rather than saying that someone has died.
7. 7. Hyperbole: An exaggeration used to emphasize a concept or argument. For example, the phrase “I have a million things to do” is not meant in the literal sense, but it implies that the speaker has so much to do that there may as well be one million items on their to-do list.
8. 8. Juxtaposition: When two different or opposing words or concepts are placed adjacent to one another. For example, the idiom “all is fair in love and war” places a peaceful concept (“love”) and a violent concept (“war”) side by side. Juxtaposition can highlight the differences or similarities of two seemingly unrelated ideas.
9. 9. Kenning: When two words are combined to form a single noun to describe something metaphorically. For example, the words “book” and “worm” can be combined into “bookworm” to describe someone who is an avid reader. It’s implied that a bookworm works their way through books rapidly, like a worm eating through a piece of fruit.
10. 10. Metonymy: When the name of a person, object, or concept is replaced with a word that is similar or related to it. For example, one might refer to a plate of food as a “dish,” which is simply an object related to eating a meal.
11. 11. Onomatopoeia: The use of a word that phonetically reads like the sound that it is describing. For example, the word ticktock emulates the sound of a clock when read out loud.
12. 12. Oxymoron: A short word or phrase in which the literal meaning is contradictory. For example, the word “bittersweet” describes something that is both good and bad by combining negative (“bitter”) and positive (“sweet”) words.
13. 13. Paradox: When a statement seems to contradict itself. For example, the playwright Oscar Wilde wrote “Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about it,” which suggests that life is both important and not important at all. This is also an example of an epigram, or a short, witty saying.
14. 14. Personification: When nonhuman or inanimate objects are assigned human characteristics or human qualities. For example, the phrase “the wind howled through the night” gives the wind a human quality (howling) even though it is not a living object.
15. 15. Simile: A comparison of two different things that uses the word “like” or “as.” For example, “the baby was as cute as a button” effectively compares a baby to a button using the word “as” to join them together.
16. 16. Synecdoche: When one part of something is used to describe the whole, or the whole is used to describe just one part. For example, you may refer to your car as your “wheels,” even though the wheels are just one component of the entire car.

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