Figures of Speech

At a glance 10 rules

1. 1Simile or metaphorA simile compares with 'like' or 'as' (as brave as a lion); a metaphor says one thing is another, with no 'like' or 'as' (the exam hall was an oven).
2. 2PersonificationA thing or an idea is given human actions or feelings: The sun smiled on the fest; my alarm clock nags me every morning.
3. 3ApostropheSpeaking straight to someone absent or dead, or to a thing or idea, as if it could hear: O Sleep, come back to me!
4. 4Hyperbole and litotesHyperbole exaggerates far past the truth (I have a million chapters left); litotes understates by denying the opposite (she is no fool).
5. 5Oxymoron or paradoxAn oxymoron puts two opposite words side by side (an open secret); a paradox is a whole statement that sounds absurd but is true (the more you learn, the less you know).
6. 6IronyThe speaker means the opposite of the words, or the result is the opposite of what was expected: 'Lovely weather,' she said, as the rain poured in.
7. 7Alliteration and onomatopoeiaAlliteration repeats the opening consonant sound (Priya picked purple pens); onomatopoeia is a word that sounds like its noise (buzz, sizzle, thud).
8. 8Transferred epithetAn adjective that belongs to a person is moved onto a thing linked to them: a sleepless night. The person is sleepless, not the night.
9. 9Metonymy and synecdocheMetonymy names a thing by something closely linked to it (the crown for the king, Dalal Street for the stock market); synecdoche uses a part for the whole (all hands on deck).
10. 10Name the main figureName the device the whole line is built on, not a passing touch. And check the job of 'like': as a verb (I like chai) it makes no simile.