figure of speech, intentional departure from straight-forward, literal use of language for the purpose of clarity, emphasis, or freshness of expression. See separate articles on antithesis antithesis (ăntĭth`ĭsĭs)
..... Click the link for more information. ; apostrophe apostrophe, figure of speech in which an absent person, a personified inanimate being, or an abstraction is addressed as though present. The term is derived from a Greek word meaning "a turning away," and this sense is maintained when a narrative or dramatic thread
..... Click the link for more information. ; conceit conceit, in literature, fanciful or unusual image in which apparently dissimilar things are shown to have a relationship. The Elizabethan poets were fond of Petrarchan conceits, which were conventional comparisons, imitated from the love songs of Petrarch, in which
..... Click the link for more information. ; hyperbole hyperbole (hīpûr`bəlē)
..... Click the link for more information. ; irony irony, figure of speech in which what is stated is not what is meant. The user of irony assumes that his reader or listener understands the concealed meaning of his statement.
..... Click the link for more information. ; litotes litotes (lī`tətēz'), figure of speech in which a statement is made by indicating the negative of its opposite, e.g.
..... Click the link for more information. ; metaphor metaphor [Gr.,=transfer], in rhetoric, a figure of speech in which one class of things is referred to as if it belonged to another class. Whereas a simile states that A is like B, a metaphor states that A is B or substitutes B
..... Click the link for more information. ; metonymy metonymy (mĭtŏn`əmē)
..... Click the link for more information. ; paradox paradox, statement that appears self-contradictory but actually has a basis in truth, e.g., Oscar Wilde's "Ignorance is like a delicate fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone.
..... Click the link for more information. ; personification personification, figure of speech in which inanimate objects or abstract ideas are endowed with human qualities, e.g., allegorical morality plays where characters include Good Deeds, Beauty, and Death.
..... Click the link for more information. ; simile simile (sĭm`əlē) [Lat.,=likeness], in rhetoric, a figure of speech in which an object is explicitly compared to another object.
..... Click the link for more information. ; and synecdoche synecdoche (sĭnĕk`dəkē)
..... Click the link for more information. .

figure of speech

Form of expression used to convey meaning or heighten effect, often by comparing or identifying one thing with another that has a meaning or connotation familiar to the reader or listener. An integral part of language, figures of speech are found in oral literatures as well as in polished poetry and prose and in everyday speech. Common figures of speech include simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, irony, alliteration, onomatopoeia, and puns.