What is figure of speech short definition?
figure of speech, any intentional deviation from literal statement or common usage that emphasizes, clarifies, or embellishes both written and spoken language. Forming an integral part of language, figures of speech are found in oral literatures as well as in polished poetry and prose and in everyday speech.
Kids Definition
figure of speech. : a form of expression (as a simile or metaphor) that uses words other than in a plain or literal way.
- Simile.
- Metaphor.
- Personification.
- Apostrophe.
- Alliteration.
- Assonance.
- Hyperbole.
- Euphemism.
A figure of speech is a word or phrase that possesses a separate meaning from its literal definition. It can be a metaphor or simile designed to make a comparison. It can be the repetition of alliteration or the exaggeration of hyperbole to provide a dramatic effect.
synonyms for figure of speech
adumbration. allegory. alliteration. allusion. analogue.
- Simile.
- Metaphor.
- Hyperbole.
- Oxymoron.
A figure of speech is used to portray an idea more clearly or more interestingly. The most common types of figures of speech are metaphors, similes, idioms, personification, hyperbole, and euphemisms.
Professor Robert DiYanni, in his book Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, Drama and the Essay wrote: "Rhetoricians have catalogued more than 250 different figures of speech, expressions or ways of using words in a nonliteral sense."
Discuss figurative language with children. Explain that people use figures of speech to exaggerate or to create interesting conversation. Provide examples of different types of figures of speech. Examples of figures of speech to consider include "fast as lightning," "cold as ice" and "eat like a horse."
Many figures of speech contain metaphors, idioms, similes, ironies, antithesis, alliterations, personifications, and paradoxes.
What are the 10 figure of speech?
Some common figures of speech are alliteration, anaphora, antimetabole, antithesis, apostrophe, assonance, hyperbole, irony, metonymy, onomatopoeia, paradox, personification, pun, simile, synecdoche, and understatement.
- 1 Alliteration. Alliteration is the repeating of consonant sounds right next to each other, which creates a memorable or melodic effect. ...
- 2 Antithesis. ...
- 3 Apostrophe. ...
- 4 Circumlocution. ...
- 5 Epigram. ...
- 6 Euphemism. ...
- 7 Hyperbole. ...
- 8 Irony.
