Figurative Language definitions & examples

Front

What is a simile?

Back

A simile is a figure of speech that compares two unlike things using the words 'like' or 'as'. Example: 'He is as brave as a lion.'

Front

What is a metaphor?

Back

A metaphor is a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things by stating that one is the other. Example: 'Time is a thief.'

Front

What is an idiom?

Back

An idiom is a group of words whose meaning is different from the literal meaning of the individual words. Example: 'It's raining cats and dogs' means it's raining heavily.

Front

What is hyperbole?

Back

Hyperbole is an exaggerated statement that is not meant to be taken literally. Example: 'I have a million things to do today.'

Front

What is an oxymoron?

Back

An oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines contradictory terms. Example: 'jumbo shrimp' or 'deafening silence.'

Front

What is personification?

Back

Personification is a figure of speech in which human qualities are given to animals, objects, or ideas. Example: 'The wind whispered through the trees.'

Front

What is alliteration?

Back

Alliteration is the repetition of the same initial consonant sound in a series of words. Example: 'She sells sea shells by the sea shore.'

Front

What is onomatopoeia?

Back

Onomatopoeia is a word that imitates the natural sound of a thing. Example: 'buzz', 'hiss', or 'clang'.

Front

What is an allusion?

Back

An allusion is a reference to a well-known person, place, event, or work of art. Example: 'He has the Midas touch' refers to King Midas from Greek mythology.

Front

What is a pun?

Back

A pun is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term or similar-sounding words for humorous or rhetorical effect. Example: 'Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.'