A figure of speech is a rhetorical device that achieves a special effect by using words in a distinctive

way. Though there are hundreds of figures of speech, here we'll focus on 20 top examples.

You'll probably remember many of these terms from your English classes. Figurative language is often
associated with literature and with poetry in particular. Whether we're conscious of it or not, we use
figures of speech every day in our own writing and conversations.

For example, common expressions such as "falling in love," "racking our brains," and "climbing the
ladder of success" are all metaphorsthe most pervasive figure of all. Likewise, we rely
on similes when making explicit comparisons ("light as a feather") and hyperbole to emphasize a
point ("I'm starving!").

TOP 20 FIGURES OF SPEECH

Using original figures of speech in our writing is a way to convey meanings in fresh, unexpected ways.
Figures can help our readers understand and stay interested in what we have to say.

1. Alliteration: The repetition of an initial consonant sound. Example: She sells seashells by the
seashore.

2. Anaphora: The repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or
verses. Example: Unfortunately, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time on the wrong day.

3. Antithesis: The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases. Example: As Abraham

Lincoln said, "Folks who have no vices have very few virtues."

4. Apostrophe: Directly addressing a nonexistent person or an inanimate object as though it were a

living being. Example: "Oh, you stupid car, you never work when I need you to," Bert sighed.

5. Assonance: Identity or similarity in sound between internal vowels in neighboring

words. Example: How now, brown cow?

6. Chiasmus: A verbal pattern in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first
but with the parts reversed. Example: The famous chef said people should live to eat, not eat to live.

7. Euphemism: The substitution of an inoffensive term for one considered offensively

explicit. Example: "We're teaching our toddler how to go potty," Bob said.

8. Hyperbole: An extravagant statement; the use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis or
heightened effect. Example: I have a ton of things to do when I get home.

9. Irony: The use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning. Also, a statement or
situation where the meaning is contradicted by the appearance or presentation of the
idea. Example: "Oh, I love spending big bucks," said my dad, a notorious penny pincher.

10. Litotes: A figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by

negating its opposite. Example: A million dollars is no small chunk of change.

11. Metaphor: An implied comparison between two dissimilar things that have something in
common. Example: "All the world's a stage."
12. Metonymy: A figure of speech in a word or phrase is substituted for another with which it's closely
associated; also, the rhetorical strategy of describing something indirectly by referring to things
around it.

Example: "That stuffed suit with the briefcase is a poor excuse for a salesman," the manager said
angrily.

13. Onomatopoeia: The use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions
they refer to. Example: The clap of thunder went bang and scared my poor dog.

14. Oxymoron: A figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory terms appear side by
side. Example: I am as graceful as a bull in a china shop when I dance.

15. Paradox: A statement that appears to contradict itself. Example: "This is the beginning of the
end," said Eeyore, always the pessimist.

16. Personification: A figure of speech in which an inanimate object or abstraction is endowed with
human qualities or abilities. Example: That kitchen knife will take a bite out of your hand if you
don't handle it safely.

17. Pun: A play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes on the
similar sense or sound of different words. Example: Jessie looked up from her breakfast and said, "A
boiled egg every morning is hard to beat."

18. Simile: A stated comparison (usually formed with "like" or "as") between two fundamentally
dissimilar things that have certain qualities in common. Example:Roberto was white as a sheet after
he walked out of the horror movie.

19. Synecdoche: A figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole. Example: Tina is
learning her ABC's in preschool.

20. Understatement: A figure of speech in which a writer or speaker deliberately makes a situation
seem less important or serious than it is. Example: "You could say Babe Ruth was a decent
ballplayer," the reporter said with a wink.

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Figures: Their Nature and Function

A figure of speech is a poetic device which consists in the use of words and phrases in such a
manner as to make the meaning more pointed and clear and the language more graphic and vivid.
Figures are also called images for in them one thing is represented in the image of another. According
to Bain it is a form of expression that intentionally deviates from the ordinary mode of speech for the
sake of more powerful, pleasing or distinctive effect; it is pictorial or poetic language.
But it is a mistake to think of figures of speech as simply ornaments of language. They are part and
parcel of the human language in moments of emotional excitement. When his emotions are stirred,
man instinctively tends to express himself through the use of figurative language. That figures are
used naturally and instinctively to express powerful feeling is seen in the fact that children and
primitive, uncultured people habitually use figures of speech.
 1. Simile
The word Simile comes from the Latin similis likeand means likeness. A simile is an
expression of likeness between different objects or events. It consists in placing two different things
side by side and comparing them with regard to some quality common to them. In other words there
are two essential elements in a simile. First, the two objects or events compared must be different in
kind. Secondly, the point of resemblance between the two different objects or events compared must
be clearly brought out. Such words of comparison as, like, as, so, etc., are always used. For example:
(a) Errors like straws upon the surface flow.
(b) The younger brother is as good as gold.
2. Epic or Homeric Simile
It is so called because it was first used by Homer, the great epic poet of ancient Greece, and ever
since it has been made use of by epic poets all over the world. It is also calledthe long-tailed
simile because in it the comparison is not confined to some one quality but a number of qualities are
compared and the comparison is elaborated and spread over a number of lines. Homeric simile
imparts variety to the narrative and helps the poets to lengthen it out. Milton in hisParadise Lost and
Pope in his mock-epic The Rape of the Lock have made abundant use of such Homeric similes. For
example:
The broad circumference (of the shield of Satan)
Hung on his shoulders like the Moon, whose orb
Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views, etc.
3. Metaphor
A metaphor is implied simile. The word metaphorcomes from the Greek, meta over; phero
carry. It means, literally, a carrying over; and by this figure of speech a word is transferred, or
carried over, from the object to which it belongs to another in such a manner that a comparison is
implied, though not clearly stated. Thus a metaphor is a compressed, or implied simile simile with
the word like, as etc., omitted. For example:
(a) The camel is the ship of the desert.
(b) He is the pillar of the state.
4. Personification
Personification is really a special kind of metaphor. It is a figure of speech in which inanimate
objects and abstract ideas or qualities are spoken of, as if they were persons or human beings.
Examples of personification are:
(a) Opportunity knocks at the door but once.
(b) Death lays his Icy hands on kings.
(c) Peace hath her victories.
No less renowned than war.
In all these instances, life and intelligence have been imparted to lifeless objects or abstract ideas.
5. Pathetic Fallacy
Pathetic Fallacy is a figure of speech in which human emotions are given to lifeless objects and
abstract ideas. It is a special kind of personification in which the inanimate, the lifeless, and the
abstract, are made to partake of human emotions. For example:
All Nature wept at his death, and the Flowers were filled with tears.
It is usual to begin the name of the personified object with a capital letter.
 6. Apostrophe
It is a figure of speech in which abstract ideas or inanimate objects are addressed as if they were
alive. The word literally means a turning aside, for in this figure a writer turns aside to address a
person absent or dead, or an inanimate object, or an abstract idea, For example:
(a) O wild west wind, thou breath of Autumns being.
(b) O Solitude, where are the charms
That sages have seen in they face?
7. Hyperbole
The word hyperbole (Hyper beyond; ballo throw) literally, a throwing beyond, means
exaggeration. This figure of speech consists in representing things as much greater or smaller than
they really are, with the intention of producing a more striking effect than a plain statement can. For
example:
(a) Here is the smell of blood still; all perfumes ofArabia will not sweeten this little hand?
8. Metonymy
The word metonymy, Greek, meta after; onoma a name, means literally, substitution of
name, and the figure consists in substituting the thing named for the thing meant; for example,
grey hair may be used for old age, throne for monarchy. Some other examples are:
(a) The pen (author) is mightier than the sword (the soldier).
(b) Sceptre and crown.
Must tumble down,
And in the dust be equal made
With the poor crooked scythe and spade.
9. Synecdoche
This figures of speech is really a special form of metonymy. Its name syn with, ekdoche
succession, means literally, the understanding of one thing by another. In the figure there is the
substitution of a part for the whole orvice versa, or of an abstract noun for a concrete one or vice
versa, of an individual for a class, or vice versa, or of the name of the material of which a thing is
made for the name of the thing itself. For example:
(a) The rank and file streamed out of the city to see the sight.
(b) There is a mixture of the tiger and the ape in his character.
(c) Kalidasa is the Shakespeare of India.
(d) He gave the beggar a few coppers.
10. Oxymoron
An oxymoron is the association or bringing together of two words or phrases having opposite
meanings. For example:
(a) James I was the wisest fool in Christendom.
(b) That time is past
And all its aching joys are now no more,
And all its dizzy raptures.
11. Antithesis
 An antithesis, anti against; thesis placing, is a figure of speech in which one word or idea is
set against another with the object of heightening the effect of what is said by contrast. For example:
(a) God made the country but man made the town.
(b) United we stand divided we fall.
(c) Speech is silvery, silence is golden.
12. Onomatopaeia
Onomatopaeia, onoma name; poiea make, is the use of a word or words whose sound itself
conveys the sense of the author. Examples of onomatopaeia are:
(a) It cracked and growled and roared and howled like noises in a swound.
(b) The murmurous haunt of flies on summer eves.
13. Epigram
A brief pointed saying expressing antithetical ideas, or exciting surprise, is called Epigram. For
example:
(a) The child is father of the man,
(b) Art lies on concealing art.
14. Irony
It is the figure of speech in which the real meaning is just the opposite of that which is literally
conveyed by the language used. For example:
Here, under leave of Brutus, and the rest,
(For Brutus is an honourable man)
I come to speak in Caesars funeral.
Here the use of the word, honourable is ironical.
15. Pun
When we use the same word in two or more senses in order to make the people laugh, we employ
the Figure of Speech called Pun.
An ambassador is a gentleman who lies abroad for the good of his country.
Here there is a pun on the word lies.
16. Alliteration
Alliteration consists in the repetition of the letters or syllable, or the same sound at the beginning
of two or more words in a line. In this way language becomes musical. For example:
(a) How high His Honour holds his haughty head.
(b) The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, the furrow followed free.
17. Transferred Epithet
In this figure of speech an epithet or qualifying adjective is sometimes transferred from a person
to an object or from one word to another. For example:
(a) The ploughman homeward plods his weary way.
(b) He tossed from side to side on his sleepless bed.
In the first case weary has been transferred from the ploughman to the way; in the second case
sleepless has been transferred from He to bed.