Can you give me a examples of every figure of speech?

Answer 1

The use of figures of speech in the language reveals the plasticity and adds beauty and meaning to the language. Given here is a figures of speech list, which are easy to learn.

Adjunction: Adjunction refers to a clause or a phrase, usually a verb, that is added at the beginning of a sentence. Here are a few examples of adjunction;

• Sings the bird as we walk on by.
• Good it is that fights the master with his dark lord,

Allegory: This figure of speech is an extended metaphor where the characters or actions in a literary work have a more imaginative meaning. The examples of allegory are;

• I feel like a dog today. I rolled out of my basket and munched on some biscuit-like cereal. Scratching as I got on the train, I sniffed a passing female. Aruooo!! Down boy! - Animal Farm, George Orwell
• By this I perceive thou art one of my subjects; for all that country is mine, and I am the Prince and God of it. How is it then that thou hast run away from thy King? - The Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan

Allusion: An allusion is an indirect or brief reference to a person, place or thing in a literary work. Examples of illusion -

• I doubt if Phaethon feared more - that time

  he dropped the sun-reins of his father's chariot

  and burned the streak of sky we see today -

  or if poor Icarus did - feeling his sides

  unfeathering as the wax began to melt,

  his father shouting: "Wrong, your course is wrong - Inferno, Dante

• This responsibility is too much for me. I feel as though I have an albatross around my neck. - The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Alliteration: A repetition of particular consonant sound in the beginning of each word in close succession. Though alliteration is mainly consonant sounds, sometimes vowel sounds are also repeated. This figure of speech is mainly used in poetry. A few examples of alliteration:

• I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet. - Acquainted with the Night, Robert Frost
• Those tidal thoroughbreds that tango through the turquoise tide. - Dancing Dolphins, Paul McCann

Antithesis: An antithesis is a figure of speech where there is a juxtaposition of two contrasting ideas in a balanced clause or sentence. Some illustrations of antithesis:

• It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way. - A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
• If, as our dreaming Platonists report,

  There could be spirits of a middle sort,

  Too black for heav'n, and yet too white for hell,

  Who just dropp'd halfway down, nor lower fell. - The Hind and the Panther, John Dryden

Apostrophe: In this figure of speech, a non existent or absent person is addressed. In literary pieces, this figure of speech usually starts with an exclamation 'O'. Examples of apostrophe are:

• O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? - Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare
• O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, / That I am meek and gentle with these butchers! / Thou art the ruins of the noblest man / That ever lived in the tide of times. - Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare.

Climax: In climax, the words or clauses are arranged in ascending order of importance. These phrases have a similar theme and arranged in increasing order according to the impact they create on the reader. A few illustrations;

• Love creates happiness, happiness creates joy, joy creates enlightenment.
• We'll collect pennies in tens, hundreds and millions! Power starts small, becomes significant then becomes unstoppable.

Euphemism: A figure of speech where an offensive or rude word is substituted by a polite and gentle word. The technique is to use a neutral language so as not to sound offensive to the receiver. Like for instance:

• Differently abled instead of disabled.
• Put to sleep instead of euthanasia

Hyperbole: It is used while exaggerating something. This figure of speech is mainly used in several jokes or as a way of insult. It is to dramatize a normal situation or to make it look worse. Somehyperbole examples:

• The whole world was staring at me.
• It is going to take a zillion years to get through medical school.
• My backpack weighs a ton.

Irony: Irony is used to convey the opposite meaning of a word. It is usually used in sarcasm or in humor. It is also used to convey an ugly truth in a subtle manner. Some examples of irony are:

• "Water, water, everywhere,

  And all the boards did shrink;

  Water, water, everywhere,

  Nor any drop to drink." (Situational Irony) - The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, S. T. Coleridge

• The boy is so intelligent that he failed in all the subjects. (Verbal Irony)

Metaphor: Metaphor is used for the purpose of comparison with a thing which is not applicable to it literally. It is an indirect comparison of two unrelated things. Some examples of metaphors include:

• He was a lion in the battlefield.
• He is the apple of my eye.

Metonymy: In metonymy, the name of one thing is replaced with something that is closely related to it. In common terms, it is also known as misnomer or transmutation. Here are some metonymy examples:

• The suits on Wall Street walked off with most of our savings. (Suits referring to bankers).
• The White House asked the television networks for air time on Monday night. (Here air time refers to broadcasting).

Onomatopoeia: This figure of speech imitates the sounds produced by the objects or actions. Examples of onomatopoeia:

• The buzzing of bees.
• The whirring of the washing machine.

Oxymoron: Using a contradictory term to define a situation, object or event is oxymoron. Some oxymoron examples are:

• Clearly misunderstood
• Exact estimation

Personification: Associating an inanimate object to human quality. A few personification examples are:

• The haughty lion surveyed his realm
• My car was happy to be washed.

Simile: Simile is a figure of speech where two essentially unlike things are compared with each other, using 'as', 'than' or 'like'. Simile examples are:

• O my love is like a red, red rose.
• Life is like an onion: You peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep.

Synecdoche: It is a part of speech similar to metonymy, where a part of a particular object is used to refer to the whole thing. Synechdoche examples are:

• The city posted a sign, where 'the city' refers to the government.
• The gray beard refers to an old man.

Answer 2

it a word or phrase that describes one thing in terms of another and is not meant to beunderstood literally true.Ex.1 moon walk and smile to me. (personification), Ex.2 the cat dark as night. (simile) * accumulation: Summarization of previous arguments in a forceful manner. * adnomination: Repetition of a word with a change in letter or sound * alliteration: A series of words that begin with the same letter or sound alike * anacoluthon: A change in the syntax within a sentence * anadiplosis: Repetition of a word at the end of a clause at the beginning of another * anaphora: The repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses * anastrophe: Inversion of the usual word order * anticlimax: the arrangement of words in order of decreasing importance * antimetabole: Repetition of words in successive clauses, in reverse order * antistrophe: The repetition of the same word or phrase at the end of successive clauses (see epistrophe) * antithesis: The juxtaposition of opposing or contrasting ideas * aphorismus: statement that calls into question the definition of a word * aposiopesis: Breaking off or pausing speech for dramatic or emotional effect * apostrophe: Directing the attention away from the audience and to a personified abstraction * apposition: The placing of two elements side by side, in which the second defines the first * assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds, most commonly within a short passage of verse * asteismus: Facetious or mocking answer that plays on a word * asyndeton: Omission of conjunctions between related clauses * cacophony: The juxtaposition of words producing a harsh sound * classification (literature & grammar): linking a proper noun and a common noun with an article * chiasmus: Reversal of grammatical structures in successive clauses * climax: The arrangement of words in order of increasing importance * commoratio: Repetition of an idea, re-worded * consonance: The repetition of consonant sounds, most commonly within a short passage of verse * dystmesis: A synonym for tmesis * ellipsis: Omission of words * enallage: The substitution of forms that are grammatically different, but have the same meaning * enjambment: A breaking of a syntactic unit (a phrase, clause, or sentence) by the end of a line or between two verses. * enthymeme: Informal method of presenting a syllogism * epanalepsis: Repetition of the initial word or words of a clause or sentence at the end of the clause or sentence. * epistrophe: The repetition of the same word or group of words at the end of successive clauses. The counterpart of anaphora (also known as antistrophe) * euphony: The opposite of cacophony - i.e. pleasant sounding * hendiadys: Use of two nouns to express an idea when the normal structure would be a noun and a modifier * hendiatris: Use of three nouns to express one idea * homographs: Words that are identical in spelling but different in origin and meaning * homonyms: Words that are identical with each other in pronunciation and spelling, but differing in origin and meaning. * homophones:Words that are identical with each other in pronunciation but differing in origin and meaning. * hypallage: Changing the order of words so that they are associated with words normally associated with others * hyperbaton: Schemes featuring unusual or inverted word order. * hyperbole: An exaggeration of a statement. * hysteron proteron: The inversion of the usual temporal or causal order between two elements. * isocolon: Use of parallel structures of the same length in successive clauses * internal rhyme : Using two or more rhyming words in the same sentence * kenning: A metonymic compound where the terms together form a sort of synecdoche * merism: Referring to a whole by enumerating some of its parts * non sequitur: A statement that bears no relationship to the context preceding * onomatopoeia: A word imitating a real sound (e.g. tick-tock or boom) * paradiastole: Repetition of the disjunctive pair "neither" and "nor" * parallelism: The use of similar structures in two or more clauses * paraprosdokian: Unexpected ending or truncation of a clause * parenthesis: Insertion of a clause or sentence in a place where it interrupts the natural flow of the sentence * paroemion: A resolute alliteration in which every word in a sentence or phrase begins with the same letter * parrhesia: Speaking openly or boldly, or apologizing for doing so (declaring to do so) * perissologia: The fault of wordiness * pleonasm: The use of superfluous or redundant words * polyptoton: Repetition of words derived from the same root * polysyndeton: Repetition of conjunctions * pun: When a word or phrase is used in two different senses * sibilance: Repetition of letter 's', it is a form of alliteration] * sine dicendo: A statement that is so obvious it need not be stated; when uttered almost seems pointless (e.g. 'You can never save too much') * superlative: Saying something the best of something i.e. the ugliest most precious * spoonerism: Interchanging of (usually initial) letters of words with amusing effect * symploce: Simultaneous use of anaphora and epistrophe: the repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning and the end of successive clauses * synchysis: Interlocked word order * synesis: An agreement of words according to the sense, and not the grammatical form * synizesis: The pronunciation of two juxtaposed vowels or diphthongs as a single sound * synonymia: The use of two or more synonyms in the same clause or sentence * tautology: Redundancy due to superfluous qualification; saying the same thing twice * tmesis: Division of the elements of a compound word

Source: wikipedia.org

Answer 3

Here are some:

Simile - when you compare two things using 'as' or 'like'

Ex: You smell as bad as I do.

Metaphor - same as Simile although you are not to use 'as' or 'like'

Ex: Heracles was a tiger on stage.

Personification - when human characteristics are used to describe abiotic things.

Ex: The tree danced with the wind.

Irony: When two opposite things are being compared talked about or something.

Ex: The air is so clean that it makes me cough.

Hyperbole: When you exaggerate something.

Ex. I'm so hungry I can eat a horse.

Apostrophe - When you talk to something abiotic or something impossible to talk to.

Ex: O bright star, please grant my wishes!

That's all I remembered. 8D But there are lots and lots of other Figures of speech, you could say that they are the basic ones. LOL

Answer 4

List of Figures Of Speech

Personification

Personification is all about adding a human trait to an inanimate object or an abstraction.

For example: The picture in that magazine shouted for attention.

Simile

A simile is a figure of speech that compares two unrelated things or ideas using "like" or "as" to accentuate a certain feature of an object by comparing it to a dissimilar object that is a typical example of that particular trait.

For example: as big as a bus, as clear as a bell, as dry as a bone, etc.

Analogy

An analogy is a figure of speech that equates two things to explain something unfamiliar by highlighting its similarities to something that is familiar. This figure of speech is commonly used in spoken and written English.

For example: Questions and answers, crying and laughing, etc.

Metaphor

A metaphor compares two different or unrelated things to reveal certain new qualities in the subject, which you might have ignored or overlooked otherwise.

For example: The streets of Chennai are a furnace.

Alliteration

Alliteration is the duplication of a specific consonant sound at the start of each word and in quick succession. Although alliterations are all about consonant sounds, exceptions can be made, when vowels sounds are also repeated. This figure of speech is commonly seen in poems.

For example: "Guinness is good for you" - Tagline for Guinness

Hyperbole

A far-fetched, over exaggerated description or sentence is called as hyperbole and is commonly used in jokes and making backhanded compliments.

For example: When she smiles, her cheeks fall off.

Onomatopoeia

This figure of speech is partly pleasure and partly business. It is used to replicate sounds created by objects, actions, animals and people.

For example: Cock-a-doodle-do, quack, moo, etc.

Imagery

Imagery is a figure of speech, which employs words to create mental images in the mind of the reader. It is a powerful tool and mostly used by poets, lyricists and authors. For example: "Cloudless everyday you fall upon my waking eyes inviting and inciting me to rise, And through the window in the wall, Come streaming in on sunlight wings, A million bright ambassadors of morning." - A portion of the lyrics to the song 'Echoes' by the band Pink Floyd

Symbol

Symbol refers to the use of an object or symbol to represent or indicate something else.

For example: The symbolism of a red rose (love), the symbolism of a white flag (peace), etc.

Pun

A pun is a figure of speech that plays with words to give away obscured meanings. A pun is also known as paronomasia.

For example: My son wanted a scooter. When I told him they are too dangerous, he moped around the house.

Allegory

An allegory is nothing but an improvised metaphor. It is a figure of speech, which involves the use of characters or actions in a piece of literature, wherein the characters have more to them than meets the eye.

For example: The Trojan Women by Euripides,

Aesop's Fables by Aesop.

Tautology

Tautology is needless repetition of words to denote the same thing.

For example: CD-ROM disk, PIN number, ATM machine, etc.

Palindrome

A palindrome is a series of numbers, words or phrases that reads the same in either direction.

For example: Malayalam, A Toyota's a Toyota, etc.

Euphemism

Euphemism is a figure of speech where an offensive word or expression is replaced with a polite word.

For example: David: Do you have a few minutes?

Ryan: No, I'm busy.

David: Ok, listen...

Ryan: No, you listen, when I said 'busy', I meant leave me the hell alone.

Assonance

Assonance is a repetition of the vowel sounds. Such a figure of speech is found most commonly in short sentences or verses.

For example: And murmuring of innumerable bees.

Idiom

An idiom is a phrase, expression or group of words whose implication is not clear when you go by the literal meaning of words.

For example: As easy as pie, at the eleventh hour, pull someone's leg, etc.

Funny Metaphors

Funny metaphors are metaphors that ring aloud with humor.

For example: That's like trying to thread a needle with a haystack.

Allusion

An allusion is an indirect or subtle reference made about a person, place or thing in a work of literature.

For example: I am no Prince Hamlet.

Antecedent

An antecedent, in grammar, is a word, a phrase, or a clause that is usually replaced by a pronoun in a sentence, but regularly so in a following sentence.

For example: When I arrived to meet Caleb, he wasn't to be seen.

Jargon

Jargon is the kind of language that is specific to a particular trade, occupation, professionals or group of people.

For example: I need your vitals.

Double Negative

A double negative is a figure of speech that occurs when two negative words or two forms of negation are used in one sentence.

For example: I won't not use no ladder to climb the building.

Adjunction

An adjunction is a phrase or a clause that is placed at the start of a sentence. An adjunction, in most cases, is a verb.

For example: Runs the leopard past us as we stray deeper into his territory.

Antithesis

An antithesis is a figure of speech where two very opposing lines of thought or ideas are placed in a somewhat balanced sentenced.

For example: Man proposes: God disposes.

Apostrophe

An apostrophe is used when a person who is absent or nonexistent is spoken to.

For example: "Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are.

Up above the world so high,

Like a diamond in the sky."

Climax

In a climax, the words are placed in an ascending order, depending on their significance. These words generally revolve around a central theme and are arranged in an increasing order to create a strong impression on the mind of the reader.

For example: "There are three things that will endure: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love." - 1 Corinthians 13:13

Metonymy

A metonymy is a figure of speech where one word or phrase is used in place of another. With metonymies, a name of a particular thing is substituted with the name of a thing that is closely related to it.

For example: "We have always remained loyal to the crown."

Oxymoron

Oxymoron involves the usage of contradictory terms to describe an object, situation or incident.

For example: open secret, tragic comedy, exact estimate, original copies, etc.

Synecdoche

This is figure of speech where a part of a particular object is employed to throw light on the whole thing.

For example: Describing a whole vehicle as just "wheels".

Stereotype

A stereotype, as far as the figures of speech are concerned, is a convention, a predisposition or a set approach to any particular issue.

For example: All blondes are dumb.

Anastrophe

An anastrophe refers to an inversion or rearrangement of a group of words that usually appear in a certain order.

For example: Gold that glitters is not all that not. (All that glitters is gold)

Anaphora

An anaphora is an expression, which refers to another and can be ambiguous.

For example: The tiger ate the snake and it died. Longfellow

Antonomasia

This figure of speech uses the name of a person on another person or persons possessing characteristics that are similar to the characteristics of the former.

For example: He was the Adolf Hitler of the school.

Litotes

Litotes are nothing but an understatement. It can be used when you are looking to underplay a positive with a negative.

For example: The food at that restaurant is not bad at all.

Paralipsis

A paralipsis is a figure of speech that focuses on any particular thing without really making it obvious.

For example: I know who ate the last apple, but I will not mention Karen's name.

Rhetoric

Rhetoric in writing refers to an unexplained and undue use of exaggeration.

For example: When I reached the peak of the mountain, I stretched out my hands, touched heaven and took a quick look at the Almighty!

Zeugma

Zeugma refers to the employment of a word to bridge two or more words, but here the word makes sense to one word or all words in dissimilar ways.

For example: She lowered her standards by raising her glass, her courage, her eyes and his hopes.

Anticlimax

An anticlimax as a figure speech refers to the building up a climax that results in something that cannot really be described as a climax.

For example: On discovering that his friend was murdered, with vengeance on his mind Ravi rushed back to his college, only to find his friend sipping on coffee in the college canteen.

Consonance

Consonance refers to the repetition of consonant sounds, within the limits of a sentence or a certain number of sentences.

For example: "Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here. To watch his woods fill up with snow." - Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost

Irony

Irony is used to stress on the opposite meaning of a word. When people are looking to be sarcastic, they employ irony.

For example: He was so intelligent, that he failed all his tests.

Polysyndeton

Polysyndeton refers to that figure of speech which makes good use of conjunctions and in close succession.

For example: He ran and jumped and laughed for joy.

Rhetorical Question

A rhetorical question is a question wherein the answer is more than obvious.

For example: A person enters a dark room and asks out loud - 'Has someone turned off the lights?'

Anadiplosis

Anadiplosis refers to the repetition of a significant word in a sentence in the second part of the same sentence, usually with a slight change in its meaning or an exaggerated word for the same.

For example: "Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." -Yoda, Star Wars

Appositive

Appositive is a word or phrase that is used in juxtaposing related issues.

For example, Jeanne, Diane's eleven-year-old beagle, chews holes in the living room carpeting as if he were still a puppy.

Enthymeme

An enthymeme is a figure of speech where an argument that is being made has no definite conclusion or is not completely expressed.

For example, "With a name like Smucker's, it has to be good."

Parallelism

In the English language, parallelism refers to balance created between two or more similar words and sentences.

For example, I like rich desserts, fast card-games, and difficult riddles.

Asyndeton

This is a figure of speech that conveniently ignores the use of conjunctions.

For example, She has provided with a chance to earn a living, with self-respect, with satisfaction.

Parenthesis

Parenthesis refers to a self explanatory and contradicting word or sentence that breaks the flow in a series of sentences, often without affecting the flow in an obvious manner. Commas and dashes are employed when a parenthesis is used.

For example, Would you, Kris, listen to me?

Antimetabole

An antimetabole is a figure of speech, where the second half of a sentence, phrase or series is in the exact opposite order of the first part.

For example, E,F,G - G,F,E

Epistrophe

Epistrophe or epiphora is the repetition of the same word or words at the end of consecutive phrases, clauses or sentences. It is extremely emphatic and is usually employed to stress the last word in a phrase or sentence.

For example, "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny compared to what lies within us." -Emerson

Understatement

Understatement is a figure of speech that is used to undermine the due importance of a statement.

For example, "A soiled baby, with a neglected nose, cannot be conscientiously regarded as a thing of beauty." - (Mark Twain)

Chiasmus

hiasmus is another important figure of speech wherein two or more clauses are joined together through a reversing the syntax to convey a bigger point.

For example, "I flee who chases me, and chase who flees me." - (Ovid)

Epithet

An epithet can be best defined as a descriptive title that commonly involves a word or a phrase that is used in lieu of the real name.

For example: Alexander the great.

Verbal Irony

Verbal irony is one of the most commonly employed tropes in literature that is pregnant with hidden connotations and usually has more to eat than meets the eye. It usually denotes the opposite of what is expressed.

For example: "Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;

And Brutus is an honourable man." - Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

False Analogy

An elaborate comparison of two dissimilar things is called false analogy.

For example: There has to be life on other planets because as of today no one has been able to conclusively prove that there is no life.

Above mentioned were definitions and examples of the figures of speech. The definitions and examples should help you acquaint yourself to the figures of speech. However, it might take you sometime before you become an expert in using these figures of speech. Here's wishing you best of luck as you strive to master figures of speech and exploit it to polish your language skills.

Answer 5

Examples of figure of speech:

1 similie - as proud as peacock.

2 metaphor-she is like a spring flower

3 personification-the wind whispers in my ears.

4 hyperbole-a million dollar smile

5 alliteration-awful Alice ate ants

6 onomatopoeia- crash! the flower fell on the floor.

Answer 6

simile, metaphore, symbolism, ambiguity, paradox, irony and hyperbole

Answer 7

-Metaphor

-Simile

-Personification

-Onomatopoeia

...are a few

Example:

Her nose was a pig's snout. -Metaphor

Answer 8

yes hyperbole is a figure of speech

Answer 9

there's a death in the cup