Figures of Speech - Session 7 (Definitions)

Question 1

Alliteration

Answer 1

The repetition of an initial consonant sound.

Question 2

Anaphora

Answer 2

The repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or verses.

Question 3

Antithesis

Answer 3

The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases.

Question 4

Apostrophe

Answer 4

Breaking off discourse to address some absent person or thing, some abstract quality, an inanimate object, or a nonexistent character.

Question 5

Assonance

Answer 5

Identity or similarity in sound between internal vowels in neighboring words.

Question 6

Chiasmus

Answer 6

A verbal pattern in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first but with the parts reversed.

Question 7

Euphemism

Answer 7

The substitution of an inoffensive term for one considered offensively explicit.

Question 8

Hyperbole

Answer 8

An extravagant statement; the use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis or heightened effect.

Question 9

Irony

Answer 9

The use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning. A statement or situation where the meaning is contradicted by the appearance or presentation of the idea.

Question 10

Litotes

Answer 10

A figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an affirmation is expressed by negating its opposite.

Question 11

Metaphor

Answer 11

An implied comparison between two unlike things that actually have something important in common.

Question 12

Metonymy

Answer 12

A figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated; also, the rhetorical strategy of describing something indirectly by referring to things around it.

Question 13

Onomatopoeia

Answer 13

The use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to.

Question 14

Oxymoron

Answer 14

A figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory terms appear side by side.

Question 15

Paradox

Answer 15

A statement that appears to contradict itself.

Question 16

Personification

Answer 16

A figure of speech in which an inanimate object or abstraction is endowed with human qualities or abilities.

Question 17

Pun

Answer 17

A play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes on the similar sense or sound of different words.

Question 18

Simile

Answer 18

A stated comparison (usually formed with “like” or “as”) between two fundamentally dissimilar things that have certain qualities in common.

Question 19

Synecdoche

Answer 19

A figure of speech in which part is used to represent the whole (for example, ABC’s for alphabet) or the whole for a part (“England” won the World Cup in 1966”).

Question 20

Understatement

Answer 20

A figure of speech in which a writer or a speaker deliberately makes a situation seem less important or serious than it is.

Question 21

[Define]

The repetition of an initial consonant sound.

Answer 21

Alliteration

Question 22

[Define]

The repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or verses.

Answer 22

Anaphora

Question 23

[Define]

The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases.

Answer 23

Antithesis

Question 24

[Define]

Breaking off discourse to address some absent person or thing, some abstract quality, an inanimate object, or a nonexistent character.

Answer 24

Apostrophe

Question 25

[Define]

Identity or similarity in sound between internal vowels in neighboring words.

Answer 25

Assonance

Question 26

[Define]

A verbal pattern in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first but with the parts reversed.

Answer 26

Chiasmus

Question 27

[Define]

The substitution of an inoffensive term for one considered offensively explicit.

Answer 27

Euphemism

Question 28

[Define]

An extravagant statement; the use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis or heightened effect.

Answer 28

Hyperbole

Question 29

[Define]

The use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning. A statement or situation where the meaning is contradicted by the appearance or presentation of the idea.

Answer 29

Irony

Question 30

[Define]

A figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an affirmation is expressed by negating its opposite.

Answer 30

Litotes

Question 31

[Define]

An implied comparison between two unlike things that actually have something important in common.

Answer 31

Metaphor

Question 32

[Define]

A figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated; also, the rhetorical strategy of describing something indirectly by referring to things around it.

Answer 32

Metonymy

Question 33

[Define]

The use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to.

Answer 33

Onomatopoeia

Question 34

[Define]

A figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory terms appear side by side.

Answer 34

Oxymoron

Question 35

[Define]

A statement that appears to contradict itself.

Answer 35

Paradox

Question 36

[Define]

A figure of speech in which an inanimate object or abstraction is endowed with human qualities or abilities.

Answer 36

Personification

Question 37

[Define]

A play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes on the similar sense or sound of different words.

Answer 37

Pun

Question 38

[Define]

A stated comparison (usually formed with “like” or “as”) between two fundamentally dissimilar things that have certain qualities in common.

Answer 38

Simile

Question 39

[Define]

A figure of speech in which part is used to represent the whole (for example, ABC’s for alphabet) or the whole for a part (“England” won the World Cup in 1966”).

Answer 39

Synecdoche

Question 40

[Define]

A figure of speech in which a writer or a speaker deliberately makes a situation seem less important or serious than it is.

Answer 40

Understatement