Figurative Language Terms

• Figurative language - a word or phrase that departs from everyday literal language for the sake of comparison, emphasis, clarity, or freshness.  Metaphor and simile are the two most common examples of figurative language, but figurative language also includes hyperbole, oxymoron, alliteration, and personification, among others.  Used well, figurative language enhances your fiction writing and can be an economical way of getting an image or a point across.  However, used incorrectly, figurative language can be confusing or downright silly  (Also known as:  figure of speech, rhetorical figure, metaphorical language).

Example:  "Its fleece was white as snow" is an example of a figurative language.  In this case, comparing the lamb's fleece to snow helps create a picture of how white Mary's lamb really was.

• Simile  - (SIM-uh-lee) a simile uses the words "like" or "as" to compare one idea or object to another to suggest they are alike.

Example:  busy as a bee

• Metaphor - (MET-uh-for) compares two unlike things directly, without using "like" or "as"

Example:  Love is a rose.

• Alliteration - (uh-lit-uh-REY-shuhn) the repetition of the same initial letter, sound, or group of words in a series of words.  Alliteration includes tongue twisters.

Example:  She sells seashells by the seashore.

• Onomatopoeia - (on-uh-mat-uh-PEE-uh) the use of a word to describe or imitate a natural sound or the sound made by an object or an action.

Example:  "Snap, crackle, pop"

• Idiom - (ID-ee-um) is a saying that does not make literal, logical, or grammatical sense.  People within the same culture understand the meaning.

Example:  "It's raining cats and dogs."

• Hyperbole - (high-PER-bol-ee) is a figurative language that uses extreme exaggeration.

Example:  I've told you a million times to pick up your clothes.

• Personification - (per-SAWN-i-fi-KA-shun) is figurative language that gives human traits to non-human things.

Example:  The old truck coughed and sputtered.

BACK TO FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE