Figures of speech

Similes

an explicit equation A is like B. Like, as , as if, and sometimes seems or appears are used in making the comparison.

Metaphors

like similes, connect unlike things having common qualities

Synesthesia

one sensory perception expressed in a different sense

Metonymy

a term naming an object is substituted for another

Synecdoche

a part of the whole represents the whole or a whole represents a part

Personification

giving inhuman objects, things, or animals human-like qualities

Apostrophe

an absent person, an abstract concept, or an inanimate object is directly addressed

Allusion

An implied or indirect reference to a (known) person, event, or place, real or fictitious, or to a work of art

Alliteration

The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginnings of words or within words

Paradox

A metaphorical statement that seems to be self-contradictory

Oxymoron

contrasting words are juxtaposed in order to encompass contrary impressions or ideas

Hyperbole

a great exaggeration

Conceit

an extended metaphor

Onomatopoeia

Words used in such a way that the sound of the word(s) imitates the sound of the thing spoken of

Anaphora

The repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or verses

Understatement

A writer or a speaker deliberately makes a situation less important or serious than it is

Litotes

Ironic understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite

Chiasmus

An inversion of the second of two parallel structures