This document defines and provides examples of various types of figurative language. It discusses figurative language categories such as simile, metaphor, personification, onomatopoeia, hyperbole, litotes, metonymy, synecdoche, epithet, allegory, symbol, irony, oxymoron, and puns. Examples are provided for each type to illustrate how figurative language utilizes creative comparisons and non-literal meanings to enrich writing.

2.  used by poets to say something different
from the usual way
 use of words that go beyond their ordinary
meaning
 requires imagination to figure out the
author’s meaning
 can heighten senses

3. Figurative language can be classified in five
categories:
(according to Meriam – Webster’s Encyclopedia of
Literature)
 resemblance or relationship
 emphasis or understatement
 figures of sound
 verbal games
 error

4.  compares two unlike objects with the
common quality
 uses the words “like” or “as”
Examples:
1. My love for you is as deep as the sea.
2. My father is busy as a bee.
3. The still lake reflects the mountain like a
mirror.

5.  a form of comparison that directly
compares two unlike things
 created when there are common
characteristics between a literal concept
and a figurative one
Examples:
1. Her teeth are pearls.
2. Time is gold.
3. You are the sunshine of my life.

6.  the attribution of human characteristics to non-
human/ inanimate objects (an animal, an object or a
concept)
 reader visualizes the literal term as human form/trait
Examples:
1. Fear grabbed me as I heard footsteps behind me.
2. The flood waters swallowed the trees in one big
gulp.
3. The stars winked at us from the night sky.

7.  the use of a word whose sound suggests the
meaning
Examples:
1. Six burgers were sizzling on the grill.
2. The hissing of the snake scared me.
3. The bee buzzed to my ears.

8.  a figure of speech which a person is saying the
opposite of what he means
Examples:
1. The bad news is that everybody got perfect in
yesterday’s test.
2. It is so nice of you to tell my secrets.
3. It is good of you for scolding me in front of my
friends.

9.  identified by the addressing of someone
absent, dead, or nonhuman as if the person
or thing were alive and could answer the
speaker talking
 often used in informal writing contexts
• Creative writing and persuasive essays that
lean heavily on emotional strength are ideal
places for apostrophe.

10. Examples:
1. “ Apostrophe! We thus address
More things than I should care to guess
Apostrophe! I did invoke
Your figure even as I spoke.”
- John Hollander
2. “ Blue Moon, you saw me standing alone
Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own.”
- Lorenz Hart, “Blue Moon”

11.  an overstatement or exaggeration for effect of
humor
Examples:
1. You snore louder than a freight train.
2. I will love you till the seas run dry.
3. I have reminded you a million times to keep away
from bad friends.

12.  a figure of speech in which understatement is
employed for rhetorical effect, principally via
double negatives
 emphasizes truth
Examples:
Litotes As a means of saying:
“Not bad.” “Good.”
“(…) no ordinary city.” “ (…) a very impressive city
“You are not wrong.” “You’re correct.”

13.  also known as byname
 a descriptive word or phrase added to or substituted for
the name of somebody or something, highlighting a
quality or figure
Examples:
1. Alexander the Great; Aristides the Just
2. “Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and
turns…” (Odysseus)
3. Calypso, the bewitching nymph
Atlas, wicked Titan

14.  an extended metaphor
 a literary device in which characters or events
represent or symbolize ideas and concepts
 present high truths with vividness and power
(illustrate complex ideas and concepts in ways that
are easily digestible and tangible to the readers)
Examples: Aesop’s Fables
The Ant and the Grasshopper
 The Fox and the Grapes
 The wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

15.  the use of one object in place of another word of
another which it closely suggests
Examples:
1. “The pen is mightier than the sword.”
pen – the written word
sword – military aggression and
2. We must wait to hear from the crown until we
make any further decisions.
3. Can you please give me a hand carrying this box
up the stairs?

16.  may use part of something to represent the entire
whole
 may use the entire thing to represent part of it
Examples:
1. Fifty sails entered the harbor.
2. Two heads are better than one.
3. At the Olympians, you will hear that United States
won gold medal in an event.

17.  characterized by the repetition of initial vowel or
consonant sounds
 great way to help you remember names and
phrases
Examples:
1. Peter piper picked a peck of pickled pepper.
2. Quincy’s quilters quit quilting quickly.
3. Fred’s friends fried Fritos for Friday’s food.

18.  a reference made to some familiar fact of history of
literature
Examples:
1. There is no Open Sesame to the treasures of
learning.
2. The girl’s love of sweets was her Achilles’ heel.
3. He was a Romeo with the ladies.
4. David was being a scrooge!

19.  a figure of speech in which a pair of opposite or
contradictory terms is used together for emphasis
Examples:
Ever noticed that it’s simply impossible to find
seriously funny oxymorons online? The only choice
is to ask one of those paid volunteers at the library
for an original copy of some obviously obscure
documents that were found missing.

20.  an expression intended for a humorous or
rhetorical effect by exploiting different meaning of
words
Examples:
1. When a son said that his ambition was to drive an
army tank, his father said, “I won’t stand in your
way.”
2. I wondered why the ball was getting bigger. Then
it hit me.