Literary Devices

Front

Simile

Back

Comparing two or more things using “like” or “as”. Example: He had hair like gold.

Front

Metaphor

Back

Comparing two or more things without using “like” or “as”. Example: She is a shining star.

Front

Hyperbole

Back

An extreme exaggeration. Example: I'm so hungry I could eat a horse.

Front

Personification

Back

Giving human characteristics to nonhuman things. Example: The sun smiled down on me.

Front

Alliteration

Back

The same sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words. Example: Teddy the toad took the toast.

Front

Onomatopoeia

Back

A word meant to represent a sound. Examples: Boom, buzz, zap!

Front

Idiom

Back

A group of words with a figurative (non-literal) meaning. Example: It was raining cats and dogs.

Front

Allusion

Back

An expression when something comes to mind without mentioning it explicitly. Example: He was the Einstein in our physics class.

Front

Oxymoron

Back

Two words next to each other that have opposite meanings. Example: Deafening silence.