Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
A figure of speech or rhetorical figure is a word or phrase that intentionally deviates from straightforward language use or literal meaning to produce a rhetorical or intensified effect (emotionally, aesthetically, intellectually, etc.). [1][2] In the distinction between literal and figurative language, figures of speech constitute the latter.
A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. [1] It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are usually meant to create a likeness or an analogy.
When a loose cannon flogs a dead horse there's the devil to pay: seafaring words in everyday speech. Camden ME: International Marine. ISBN 978-0-07-032877-8. Miller, Charles A. (2003). Ship of state: the nautical metaphors of Thomas Jefferson : with numerous examples by other writers from classical antiquity to the present. Lanham, MD ...
Hyperbole (/ h aɪ ˈ p ɜːr b əl i / ⓘ; adj. hyperbolic / ˌ h aɪ p ər ˈ b ɒ l ɪ k / ⓘ) is the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech. In rhetoric, it is also sometimes known as auxesis (literally 'growth'). In poetry and oratory, it emphasizes, evokes strong feelings, and creates strong impressions. As a ...
Metonymy and related figures of speech are common in everyday speech and writing. Synecdoche and metalepsis are considered specific types of metonymy. Polysemy, the capacity for a word or phrase to have multiple meanings, sometimes results from relations of metonymy.
Onomatopoeia (or rarely echoism) [1] is a type of word, or the process of creating a word, that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Common onomatopoeias in English include animal noises such as oink, meow, roar, and chirp.
An oxymoron is a figure of speech in which a pair of opposite or contradictory terms is used together for emphasis. [25] Examples: Organized chaos, Same difference, Bittersweet. A paradox is a statement or proposition which is self-contradictory, unreasonable, or illogical. [26] Example: This statement is a lie.
The easiest stylistic device to identify is a simile, signaled by the use of the words "like" or "as". A simile is a comparison used to attract the reader's attention and describe something in descriptive terms. Example: "From up here on the fourteenth floor, my brother Charley looks like an insect scurrying among other insects."