FIGURES OF SPEECH MEANING EXAMPLE

Alliteration The repeating of consonant She sells Seashells by the Seashore.

sounds right next to each
other, which creates a
memorable or melodic effect.
Allusion The act of alluding is to make David was such a scrooge! (Scrooge"
indirect reference. It is a is the allusion, and it refers to Charles
literary device, a figure of Dicken's novel, A Christmas Carol.
speech that quickly Scrooge was very greedy and unkind,
stimulates different ideas and which David was being compared to.)
associations using only a
couple of words.

TYPES

 Historical “He was a Nero” suggests disturbing

behaviour like that from the infamous
Roman emperor.

 Mythological “She ran faster than Hermes.” – the

messenger of the Greek gods.

 Literary  “No matter how Dorian adjusted the

electric blanket it was either too hot or
too cold, never just right.” –
Goldilocks.

 Religious “reflecting on her cruel behaviour,

Cinderella’s stepmother stood still like
a pillar of salt.” – A phrase taken from
the story of *Lot's wife according to
the book of Genesis (19: 24), Lot's
wife disobeyed God's order not to
look back at the burning city of
Sodom, and as a punishment was
turned into a pillar of salt
Anaphora The repetition of the same I came, I saw, I conquered – Julius
word or phrase at the Caesar
beginning of successive
clauses or verses. (Contrast
with epiphora and
epistrophe.)
Antanaclasis It is a rhetorical device in Your argument is sound, nothing but
which a word is repeated and sound. – Benjamin Franklin.
 whose meaning changes in
the second instance. The word sound in the first instance
means solid or reasonable. The
second instance of sound means
empty.
Anticlimax A figure of speech in which She is a (1) great writer, (2) a mother
statements gradually and (3) a good humorist.
descend in order of
importance.
Antiphrasis A figure of speech in which a She's so beautiful. She has an
word or phrase is used to attractive long nose.
mean the opposite of its
normal meaning to create (In the first line she dictates that she
ironic humorous effect. is beautiful, while in the second line it
contradicts its statement claiming that
the person has a long nose, which
some people do not fine attractive)
Antithesis The juxtaposition of Many are called but a few are chosen
contrasting ideas in balanced
phrases
Apostrophe Breaking off discourse to "O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of
address some absent person earth,
or thing, some abstract That I am meek and gentle with these
quality, an inanimate object, butchers!
or a nonexistent character Thou art the ruins of the noblest man
That ever lived in the tide of times."

Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act 3,

Scene 1
Assonance Identity or similarity in sound "The crumbling thunder of seas" –
between internal vowels in Robert Louis Stevenson
neighboring words.
Cataphora Refers to a figure of speech “If you want some, there's coffee in
where an earlier expression the pot."
refers to or describes a
forward expression.
Cataphora is the opposite of
anaphora, a reference
forward as opposed to
backward in the discourse.
Chiasmus A verbal pattern in which the When the going gets tough, the tough
second half of an expression get going
is balanced against the first
but with the parts reversed.
Climax Successive words, phrases, Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a
clauses, or sentences are plane! It's Superman!
arranged in ascending order
of importance
Dysphemism The use of a harsh, more You are a toad, but I love you
offensive word instead of one anyway.
considered less harsh.
Dysphemism is often (This example is a dysphemistic
contrasted with euphemism euphemism, a mockery used
between close friends or family which
holds no animosity or anger; it is
more a term of endearment.)
Ellipsis Refers to the omission of a From
word or words. It refers to “After school I went to her house,
constructions in which words which was a few blocks away, and
are left out of a sentence but then came home."
the sentence can still be
understood. To
“After school I went to her house …
and then came home."
Euphemism The substitution of an Going to the other side = death
inoffensive term for one Passed away = die
considered offensively
explicit.
Hyperbole An extravagant statement; The bag weighed a ton.
the use of exaggerated terms
for the purpose of emphasis
or heightened effect.
Irony The use of words to convey His argument was as clear as mud.
the opposite of their literal
meaning. A statement or
situation where the meaning
is contradicted by the
appearance or presentation
of the idea.
Litotes A form of understatement in It’s not the best weather today
which a sentiment is (saying this during a hurricane)
expressed ironically, by
negating its contrary. (Must
contain negative statement)
Merism Something is referred to by a - Flesh and Bone (Referring to the
conventional phrase that Body)
enumerates several of its - Search every nook and cranny
constituents or traits (Search everywhere)
Metaphor Describes an object or action - Love is a battlefield (stating that
in a way that isn’t LITERALLY love is difficult compared to
true, but helps explain an battlefield)
idea or make a comparison. - Baby you’re a couch potato
(couch potato like someone who
been sitting on the couch for a
while)
Metalepsis Reference is made to - The early bird catches the worm
something by means of - A lead foot is driving behind me.
another thing that is remotely (This refers to someone who
related to it, either through a drives fast. This metalepsis is
casual, or through another achieved only through a cause
figure of speech. and effect relationship. Lead is
heavy and a heavy foot would
press the accelerator, and this
would cause the car to speed.)
Metonomy (Greek metōnymia which - King = Crown (The power of the
means “change name” or crown was mortally weakened)
“misnomer/contradiction”) An - Author = His work (I’m studying
object or concept is replaced “Shakespeare” right now)
with a word closely related to
or suggested by the original,
as “crown” to mean “king”
Onomatopoeia The use of words that imitate - Clap
the sounds associated with - Murmur
the objects - Boom
- Pow
Oxymoron Contradictory terms appear - Dark Light
side by side - Living Dead

Paradox A statement that appears to - Drowning in the fountain of eternal

contradict itself life
- Deep down, you’re really shallow.
Personification An inanimate oject or - My alarm yelled at me this
abstraction is endowned with morning.
human qualities or abilities - I like onions, but they don’t like
me.
Pun A play on words, sometimes - Atheism is non-prophet institution
on different senses of the (The word “prophet” is put in place
 same word and sometimes of its homophone “profit”, altering
on the similar sense or sound the common phrase “non-profit
or different words. institution)

Simile Comparing two unlike things - Life is like a box of chocolates:

that is often introduced by like you never know which one you’re
or as (as in cheeks like roses) going to get.
- Has “like”
- Has “as”
Synecdoche A part is used to present the - All hands on deck (hands =
whole. workers)
Tautology An expression or phrase that - The evening sunset was beautiful
says the same thing twice,
just in a different way.

VERBAL TAUTOLOGY - I went to see him personally

- Involves a few words that
mean the same thing.

LOGICAL TAUTOLOGY - Either the dog is brown or the dog

- Something that is true in is not brown.
all circumstances. This
can be done by using an
either/or statement in
such a way that the
statement cannot be false.
Understatement A writer or speaker “The grave’s a fine and private place,
deliberately makes a situation But none, I think, do there embrace.”
seem less important or
serious than it is. (Andrew Marvell, “To His Coy
Mistress”)