Figures of Speech Flashcards
Metaphor
A comparison in which one thing is said to be another.
Ex: My mom is a teddy bear.
Simile
A comparison of two things using like or as.
Ex: He is as tall as a giraffe.
Hyperbole
An exaggerated statement.
Ex: My backpack weighs a ton!
Personification
Giving human qualities to animals or objects.
Ex: The stars winked at me.
Idiom
An expression that doesn’t exactly mean what the words say.
Ex: She spilled the beans.
Pun
A humorous play on words which suggests multiple meanings.
Ex: I used to be a baker but I didn’t make enough dough.
Alliteration
The use of the same beginning consonant sound in a line or verse.
Ex: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
Assonance
This is the repetition of identical or similar VOWEL SOUND in a series of words, phrases and/or syllables.
Ex: Clap your hands and stamp your feet.
Onomatopoeia
A word that imitates the sound it represents.
Ex: SPLASH! POP! POW!
Allusion Examples
A reference to a famous person, place, or event.
Ex: He studies all the time and is a regular Einstein.
Oxymoron
Contradictory terms appear side by side known as a compressed paradox.
Ex: Criminal Justice
Irony
The use of words that mean the opposite of what you really think especially in order to be funny.
Ex: This is my brilliant son who failed out of college.
Foreshadowing
When an author mentions or hints at something that will happen later in the story.
Flashback
When an author refers back to something that already took place in the story
