Figures of Speech Flashcards
Constructed by attributing certain human characteristics to otherwise inanimate objects.
Example: Opportunity knocked at his/her door.
Personification
It is a phrase that has an implied meaning and should not be taken at face value. The real meaning of such a phrase differs from its literal meaning.
Figures of Speech
Comparison of two things using the words “like” or “as”.
Example: His response was as cold as ice.
Simile
Direct comparison of two things without “like” or “as”.
Example: She is the apple of my eye.
Metaphor
Phrases that have a similar sounding consonant at the beginning of each word.
Example: Claire, close your cluttered closet.
Alliteration
A literary device in which a word is used to represent a sound.
Example: You can hear the buzzing of the bees from outside.
Onomatopoeia
These phrases are meant to emphasize the importance of something by using overexaggerated phrases.
Example: I have told you a million times not to touch my stuff!
Hyperbole
Used to replace stronger and harsher phrases.
Example: She has ‘passed away’
Euphemism
Phrases used to convey a certain meaning by stating the opposite of it.
Example: Gerald proposed a useless idea, to which Thomas responded saying, “That’s genius!”
Irony
A joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words which sound alike but have different meanings.
Example: Denial is a river in Egypt.
Pun
The presentation of something as being smaller, worse, or less important than it actually is.
Example: Oh its nothing serious, it’s just cancer.
Understatement
A figure of speech that combines contradictory words with opposing meanings.
Example: I feel these patterns are pretty ugly and not up to the mark.
Oxymoron
A figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa.
Example: Do you like my new wheels?
Synecdoche
