figurative language Flashcards
What is a simile?
A comparison between two things using ‘like’ or ‘as’.
Example: ‘She was as busy as a bee.’
What is a metaphor?
A direct comparison between two things without using ‘like’ or ‘as’.
Example: ‘The world is a stage.’
What is personification?
Giving human characteristics to non-human objects or ideas.
Example: ‘The wind whispered through the trees.’
What is hyperbole?
An exaggerated statement that isn’t meant to be taken literally.
Example: ‘I’ve told you a million times!’
What is onomatopoeia?
Words that imitate sounds.
Example: ‘The clock ticked loudly in the silence.’
What is alliteration?
The repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of nearby words.
Example: ‘Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.’
What is an idiom?
A phrase or expression whose meaning is different from the literal meaning of the words.
Example: ‘It’s raining cats and dogs.’ (It means it’s raining heavily, not literal animals.)
What is an oxymoron?
A figure of speech where two contradictory terms are combined.
Example: ‘Deafening silence.’
What is an allusion?
A reference to another text, event, person, or historical period.
Example: ‘He was a real Romeo with the ladies.’ (Referring to the Shakespearean character Romeo.)
What is irony?
A contrast between expectation and reality, often surprising.
Example: ‘A fire station burns down.’
What is synecdoche?
A part of something represents the whole or vice versa.
Example: ‘All hands on deck’ (meaning all people, not just their hands).
What is metonymy?
Substituting the name of something with something closely related.
Example: ‘The White House issued a statement.’ (Meaning the President or the people in the White House, not the building itself.)
