Figurative Language Flashcards

Front

Language that must be interpreted with a complicated meaning because it deviates from the literal meaning of the words. It includes similes, metaphors, and irony.

Back

What is figurative language?

Front

A figure of speech that implies a comparison between two unlike things.

Example: The concert band was the icing on the cake for their very first date.

Back

What is a metaphor?

The concert band is compared to icing on a cake.

Front

A figure of speech comparing two unlike things using 'like' or 'as'.

Example: She was pretty as a picture.

Back

What is a simile?

She is compared to a pretty picture using the word "as".

Front

A figure of speech where the intended meaning is different from the actual meaning of the words.

Example: It was only after the big argument that I understood the advice my friend had given me.

Back

What is irony?

It is ironic that she did not understand the advice first in order to avoid the argument.

Front

An exaggerated statement not meant to be taken literally.

Example: It must have been a million steps before we reached the top of the hill.

Back

What is hyperbole?

Not even the highest mountain would require a million steps to get to the top which means the statement is an exaggeration.

Front

The occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.

Example: Sally sells seashells by the seashore.

Back

What is alliteration?

Notice the repeated use of the letter "s".

Front

A figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction.

Examples: Loving hate, icy hot, strange friend, tiny universe, little giants, etc.

Back

What are oxymorons?

The two words in these examples are opposites.

Front

A phrase that must be interpreted because a word or group of words are used differently from their literal meaning. Example: It is with a heavy heart that I announce my retirement after 50 years with the program.

Back

What is an idiom?

Heavy heart is figurative and used in place of a immense sadness.

Front

A word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes.

Examples: Boom, crash, splat, whiz, bang, etc.

Back

What is onomatopoeia?

Front

A figure of speech where human qualities are given to animals, objects, or ideas. Example: The owls gathered around the town square to discuss important political matters.

Back

What is personification?

Discussing politics in a town square is a human quality given to owls in the example.