Figurative Language Terms

States that one thing is something else. It is a comparison, but does NOT use like or as to make the comparison.

• onomatopoeia
• similie
• idiom
• metaphor

An indirect reference to a well-known person, place, event, or object in history or in a literary work, (literary, biblical, and mythological).

• hyperbole
• imagery
• allusion
• personification

Involves one or more of your five senses - the abilities to hear, taste, touch, smell, and see. An author uses a word or phrase to stimulate your memory of those senses and to help create mental pictures.

• Imagery
• tone
• mood
• allusion

Is giving human qualities, feelings, actions, or characteristics to inanimate (not living) objects

• onomatopoeia
• metaphor
• hyperbole
• personification

Is the imitation of natural sounds in word form. These words help us form mental pictures, or visualize, things, people, or places that are described. Sometimes a word names a thing or action by copying the sound.

• Alliteration
• onomatopoeia
• idiom
• metaphor

An expression that means something other than the literal meanings of its individual words. They are overused expressions.

• Idiom
• mood
• allusion
• tone

An author's attitude toward his or her subject.

• metaphor
• tone
• mood
• idiom

Is a comparison using like or as. It usually compares two unlike objects.

• similie
• metaphor
• idiom
• hyperbole

Is the overall feeling a reader gets when reading a story. Tone creates mood.

• Mood
• imagery
• symbolism
• metaphor

An indirect reference to a well-known person, place, event, or object in history or in a literary work, (literary, biblical, and mythological).

• Imagery
• Allusion
• Personification
• Alliteration