Figure Of Speech

Figure of Speech Definition Example alliteration The repetition of the same consonant "on scrolls of silver snowy sounds or of different vowel sounds at sentences" (Hart Crane) the beginning of words or in stressed syllables anacoluthon An abrupt change within a sentence to a "I warned him that if he continues second construction inconsistent with to drink, what will become of him?" the first, sometimes used for rhetorical effect anadiplosis Rhetorical repetition at the beginning 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 S. Churchill) anastrophe Inversion of the normal syntactic order "Matter too soft a lasting mark to of words 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 "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 Milton) balanced or parallel phrase or grammatical structure antonomasia The substitution of a personal name 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 gongvowel sounds in words tormented sea" (William Butler 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 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, You idiot!, instead of That was or unpleasant expression for a more unwise. neutral one. enallage the use of one grammatical form in We are not amused.(Queen place of another, as the plural for the Victoria) singular in the editorial use of "we"

epistrophe epithet

equivoke

the repetition of a word or words at the end of two or more successive verses, clauses, or sentences A term used to characterize a person or thing. A term used as a descriptive substitute for the name or title of a person

"I should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong..." (Shakespeare) rosy-fingered in rosy-fingered dawn the Great in Catherine the Great The Great Emancipator for Abraham Lincoln

An intentionally ambiguous word, phrase, or expression euphemism The act or an example of substituting a "neutralize" for "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 proteron, using deviation from normal or logical word order to produce an effect hyperbole A figure of speech in which "I could sleep for a year" or "This exaggeration is used for emphasis or book weighs a ton." effect hysteron proteron A figure of speech in which the natural "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. litotes A figure of speech consisting of an "This is no small problem" understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite 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 "a sea of troubles" or "All the phrase that ordinarily designates one world's a 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 for the phrase is substituted for another with United States government or of the which it is closely associated sword for military power oxymoron A rhetorical figure in which "a deafening silence" or "the little incongruous or contradictory terms are giant" combined onomatopoeia The formation or use of words that buzz or 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 personification The representation of an object or Wisdom calls aloud in the street.

concept as if it were a person. portmanteau word A word formed by merging the sounds and meanings of two different words 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 spoonerism A transposition of sounds of two or more words, especially a ludicrous one 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 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 tmesis The separation of the parts of a compound word, now generally done for humorous effect. 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

chortle, from chuckle and snort

"How like the winter hath my absence been" or "So are you to my thoughts as food to life" (Shakespeare) Let me sew you to your sheet for Let me show you to your seat. "He lost his coat and his temper"

hand for sailor the law for police officer cutthroat for assassin thief for pickpocket steel for sword abso-bloody-lutely fan-f***ing-tastic

"He took my advice and my wallet"