40 Common Rhetorical Devices
1. Metaphor is a comparison in which something is said to figuratively be something else.
Example: He was a wolf among sheep.
2. Hyperbole is an intentional exaggeration.
Example: The plate exploded into a million pieces.
3. Alliteration is repeating the same or similar sounds at the beginning of words.
Example: She sells seashells by the sea shore.
4. Analogy is a comparison between two similar things, typically using figurative language. Metaphors and similes—more on them later—are usually considered to be types of analogies. Sometimes, analogies are considered to be a unique device that is a comparison that explains itself; basically, a complex metaphor or long simile.
Example: Life is like a box of chocolates: you never know what you are going to get.
5. Onomatopoeia is a word that imitates the sound it refers to.
Example: The thunder boomed and the lightning crashed.
6. Allusion is the act of casually referencing something.
Example: Finishing his memoir was his white whale.
7. Oxymoron is a figure of speech that uses two opposite words together.
Example: The treaty led to a violent peace.
8. Satire uses humor to criticize foolish or evil customs, behaviors, institutions, people, etc.
Example: When Senator Jackson said “numbers don’t lie,” he forgot that his first name wasn’t “Numbers.
9. Paradox is making a statement that seems self-contradictory or impossible but actually makes sense.
Example: Youth is wasted on the young.
10. Simile is a comparison in which something is said to figuratively be like something else.
Example: It was as hot as a desert this morning.
11. Irony to use words to mean the opposite of their literal meaning.
Example: Ashley said it was a beautiful day while drying off from the drenching rain. (Ashley ironically referred to poor weather as “beautiful.”)
12. Personification is the act of giving human elements to non-human things.
Example: The beautiful valley spread its arms out and embraced us.
13. Anecdote is a brief story about something that happened to the speaker, usually something funny or interesting.
Example: Five years ago, I went to the store and met some clowns. Those clowns gave me the advice I am sharing with you now.
14. Euphemism is using alternative language to refer to explicit or unpleasant things.
Example: The baseball struck him in a sensitive area.
15. Connotation is using words to suggest a social or emotional meaning rather than a literal one.
Example: This is a house, but I want a home.
16. Meiosis is using euphemism to minimize the importance or significance of something.
Example: We must put an end to this peculiar institution. (“Peculiar institution” is a euphemism for slavery.)
17. Apostrophe occurs when a writer or speaker directly addresses an absent person, a concept, or an inanimate object.
Example: You have made a fool out of me for the last time, washing machine!
18. Antithesis is using parallel sentences or clauses to make a contrast.
Example: No pain, no gain.
19. Sarcasm is using irony to mock something or to show contempt.
Example: Oh, yeah, John is a great guy. A great guy who took the last slice of pizza.
20. Consonance is a repetition of consonants or consonant sounds within words.
Example: The early bird gets the worm.
21. A Rhetorical question is a question that isn’t intended to be answered. The point of asking the question is to make an audience think or to cause an emotional reaction.
Example: Can we really know what our place in the universe is? We have asked ourselves this question for millennia.
22. Epithet is a nickname or descriptive term used to refer to someone.
Example: You need to listen to me and not Clueless Kevin over there.
23. Anaphora is the repetition of a word or words at the start of phrases, clauses, or sentences.
Example: I came, I saw, I conquered.
24. Climax is ordering words so that they build up in intensity.
Example: Look at the sky! It’s a bird! A plane! Superman!
25. Cacophony is the act of purposefully using harsh sounds.
Example: The gnashing of teeth and screeching of bats kept me awake.
26. Assonance is the repetition of the same vowel sound with different consonants.
Example: The gleaming sunbeams shone down on the vast green fields.
27. Pun is humorously using words with multiple meanings or words with similar sounds to create wordplay.
Example: The farmer tried to get his cows to get along, but they insisted on having a beef with each other.
28. Parallelism is using grammatically similar phrases or sentences together.
Example: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
29. Aphorism is a short sentence that presents truth or opinion, usually in a witty or clever manner.
Example: A penny saved is a penny earned.
30. Synecdoche is when a part of something is used to refer to a whole.
Example: The commander had an army of 10,000 swords.
31. Parody is an imitation of something with the intent to poke fun at it.
Example: If Edgar Allen Poe had written this speech, it might have opened with “Here we are, weak and weary, gathered on a Monday dreary.”
32. Colloquialism is an instance of informal language or a local expression. The act of using such language is also called colloquialism.
Example: Here in Philly, we love to eat hoagies and all kinds of tasty jawns.
33. Understatement is using language to intentionally lessen a major thing or event.
Example: The erupting volcano was a little problem for the neighboring city.
34. Syllogism is an argument based on deductive reasoning that uses generalizations to reach specific conclusions. Usually, a syllogism follows the format of “A is B. B is C. So, A is C.”
Example: Dogs are mammals. Biscuit is a dog. Therefore, Biscuit is a mammal.
35. Eponym refers to the use of “a word based on or derived from a person’s name,” such as the Gallup poll, named after statistician G.H. Gallup, or Reagonomics (a combination of the last name Reagan and economics). As a rhetorical device, an eponym can be an allusion to a famous person.
Example: Nick is the LeBron James of birding.
36. Metonymy is when the name of something is replaced with something related to it.
Example: He loved music from the cradle (birth) to the grave (death).
37. Parenthesis is an interruption used for clarity.
Example: The audience, or at least the paying members of the audience, enjoyed the show.
38. Metanoia refers to any instance of self-correction. Metanoia can involve things like retracting a previous statement to replace it with a new one or amplifying a previous statement by using stronger language.
Example: We’ll work on it on Sunday. No, let’s make that Monday—it’s the weekend after, all!
39. Chiasmus is reversing the grammatical order in two otherwise parallel phrases or sentences.
Example: Dog owners own dogs and cats own cat owners.
40. Asyndeton is the removal of conjunctions from a sentence.
Example: Get in, cause a distraction, get out. VS. Get in and cause a distraction then get out.This stylistic choice creates a sense of urgency and can make the statement more impactful.