FELRIN M.

CLAROS GRADE-11 DELTA

37 DIFFERENT TYPES OF FIGURE OF SPEECH

Accumulation

Defination of Accumulation

Accumulation is a figure of speech in rhetoric that creates a list or gathers scattered

ideas in a way that builds up, emphasizes, or summarizes the main point. Accumulation
is an example of addition in rhetoric, using a “more the merrier” approach to illustrating
the theme of a passage. Addition in rhetoric is also known as adiectio, while the
definition of accumulation is the same as that of congeries and accumulatio.
Accumulation is part of a group of figures of speech in rhetoric called enumeratio. Note
that accumulation often has some repetition included, especially anaphora in which a
word is repeated at the beginning of successive clauses or sentences. However, to
qualify as accumulation the repetition must have a sense of adding on to a list and not
simply repeating the same thing over and over.

Examples:

*PRINCE HENRY: A tun of man is thy companion. Why dost thou converse with that
trunk of humors, that bolting-hutch of beastliness, that swollen parcel of dropsies, that
huge bombard of sack, that stuffed cloakbag of guts, that roasted Manningtree ox with
the pudding in his belly, that reverend Vice, that gray iniquity, that father ruffian, that
vanity in years?

*—“I’ve Been Everywhere” by Johnny Cash

St. Augustine founded it. Becket died for it. Chaucer wrote about it. Cromwell shot at it.
Hitler bombed it. Time is destroying it. Will you save it.

Adjunction

Definition of Adjunction

Adjunction refers to a clause or a phrase, usually a verb that is added at the

beginning of a sentence.

Examples:

 Sings the bird as we walk on by.

  Good it is that fights the master with his dark lord.

Adnomination
Definition of Adnomination
Adnomination is the repetition of words with a change in letter or sound.

Examples:

 He is nobody from nowhere and he knows nothing.

 News is what somebody, somewhere wants to suppress; all the rest is
advertising.

Alliteration

Definition of 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.

Examples:

 "She sells seashells by the sea-shore."

 "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers."
 I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet.

Allusion

Definition of Allusion

An allusion is an indirect or brief reference to a person, place or thing in a literary

work.

Examples:
 I doubt if Phaethon feared more - that time he dropped the sun-reins of his
father's chariot.
 “This place is like a Garden of Eden.” – This is a biblical allusion to the
“garden of God” in the Book of Genesis.
Anaphora

Definition of Anaphora
Anaphora is a figure of speech in which words repeat at the beginning of
successive clauses, phrases, or sentences. For example, Martin Luther King's
famous "I Have a Dream" speech contains anaphora: "So let freedom
ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from
the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening
Alleghenies of Pennsylvania..."

Examples:

 We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in

France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing
confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island,
whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on
the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we
shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender. — Winston Churchill
 With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right,…
— Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address

Antanaclasis

Definition of Antanaclasis
Antanaclasis is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is repeated within a
sentence, but the word or phrase means something different each time it
appears. A famous example of antanaclasis is Benjamin Franklin's statement that:
"We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately." In this
example, the first time "hang" appears it means "stay" or "stand," while the
second time it refers to being "hanged."

Examples:

 Antanaclasis can be found in everything from classical literature to

contemporary pop culture, from Shakespearean plays to popular song lyrics
to advertisements.
  In Henry V, after England has invaded and defeated France in battle
and the play is nearing its end, the comic and rather unscrupulous
character of Pistol declares:To England will I steal, and there I'll steal.
Here Pistol uses two meanings of the word "steal." In the first
appearance, he uses the meaning "to sneak away." In the second, he
uses the more common meaning of the act of theft.

Anticlimax

Definition of Anticlimax
Anticlimax refers to a figure of speech in which statements gradually descend in
order of importance. Unlike climax, anticlimax is the arrangement of a series of
words, phrases, or clauses in order of decreasing importance.

Examples:
 She is a great writer, a mother and a good humorist.
 He lost his family, his car and his cell phone.

Antiphrasis

Definition of antiphrasis
Antiphrasis originated from the Greek word antiphrasis, which means “opposite
word.” Antiphrasis is a figurative speech in which a phrase or word is employed in
a way that is opposite to its literal meaning, in order to create an ironic or comic
effect. In simple words, it is the use of phrases or words in their opposite sense
from the real meaning.

Examples:

 Home to Harmony (By Philip Gulley)

“Owen would just smile and eat his eggs, and maybe reach over and slap Ernie’s
back and say, ‘That’s real funny, Ernie. You’re pretty clever.’ All the while thinking
to himself, you moron. What do you know? … Which, of course, he couldn’t say
out loud. He could think it, but he couldn’t say it. When you’re a public figure in a
small town, you have to treat people with dignity, even Ernie Matthews …”

 Filthy Rich (By Dorothy Samuels)

“I was awakened by the dulcet tones of Frank, the morning doorman, alternately
yelling my name, ringing my doorbell, and pounding on my apartment door …”

Antithesis

Definition of Antithsesis

Antithesis is a figure of speech which refers to the juxtaposition of opposing or

contrasting ideas. It involves the bringing out of a contrast in the ideas by an
obvious contrast in the words, clauses, or sentences, within a parallel grammatical
structure.

Examples:

 "Man proposes, God disposes." - Source unknown.

 "Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing." - Goethe.
 "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." - Neil
Armstrong.

Apostrophe

Definition of Apostrophe
Apostrophe comes from the Greek word  apostrophos,  which means
“turning away.” It is a literary device in which the speaker turns, right
in the middle of their narrative, to address either a person or
an object that is absent. It doesn’t matter whether the person or
object is real or a figment of the character’s imagination. Sometimes,
in apostrophe, the speaker addresses an abstract quality as if it were
a living thing.

Examples:

 . “Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!” — In Keats’s

“Ode to a Nightingale, he pauses to address the bird directly.
 “Death be not proud, thou some have called thee/Mighty and
dreadful, for thou are not so;” — John Donne directly addresses
death in his famous sonnet.
Assonance

Definition of Assonance

Many examples of assonance can be found in prose and poetry. Assonance is

the repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words. It is used to reinforce the
meanings of words or to set the mood.

Examples:
 "Those images that yet/Fresh images beget,/That dolphin-torn, that gong-
tormented sea." - "Byzantium" by W.B. Yeats
 "Soft language issued from their spitless lips as they swished in low circles
round and round the field, winding hither and thither through the weeds" -
"Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" by James Joyce.

Cataphora

Definition of Cataphora

The word that gets its meaning from a subsequent word or phrase is called
a cataphor. The subsequent word or phrase is called the antecedent, referent,
or head.

Examples:
 "Why do we envy him, the bankrupt man?"(John Updike, Hugging the
Shore, 1984)
 A few weeks before he died, my father gave me an old cigar box filled with
faded letters.
Chiasmus

Definition of Chiasmus

Chiasmus is a figure of speech in which the grammar of one phrase is inverted in

the following phrase, such that two key concepts from the original phrase
reappear in the second phrase in inverted order. The sentence "She has all my
love; my heart belongs to her," is an example of chiasmus.

Examples:
  The epic poem Paradise Lost has a number of instances of chiasmus.
In these lines, "Adam" parallels "Eve," and "men" parallels "women."
Chiasmus gives the lines a compact and pleasing pattern, as well as a
lilting cadence. Adam, first of men. To first of women, Eve

 The excerpt from Paradise Lost below also has a pleasing sense of

unity. Love and grace are related concepts, while "Without end" and
"without measure" both convey endlessness.In his face
Divine compassion visibly appeerd
Love without end, and without measure Grace
Climax
Definition of Climax

Climax is a figure of speech in which successive words, phrases, clauses, or

sentences are arranged in ascending order of importance, as in "Look! Up in the
sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman!"

Examples :
 Beauty is but a vain and doubtful good;
A shining gloss that fadeth suddenly;
A flower that dies when first it gins to bud;
A brittle glass that’s broken presently:
A doubtful good, a gloss, a glass, a flower,
Lost, faded, broken, dead within an hour.
 When it's not always raining there'll be days like this
When there's no one complaining there'll be days like this
When everything falls into place like the flick of a switch
Well mama told me there'll be days like this.

Dysphemsim

Definition of Dysphemsim

Dysphemism is the use of a harsh, more offensive word instead of one considered
less harsh. Dysphemism is often contrasted with euphemism. Dysphemisms are
generally used to shock or offend.
Examples:
 Snail mail  for postal mail,
 Cancer stick in reference to a cigarette.
Ellipsis

Definition of ellipsis

Ellipsis is the omission of a word or series of words. There are two slightly
different definitions of ellipsis which are pertinent to literature. The first
definition of ellipsis is the commonly used series of three dots, which can be
place at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a sentence or clause.
These three dots can stand in for whole sections of text that are omitted that
do not change the overall meaning. The dots can also indicate a mysterious or
unfinished thought, a leading sentence, or a pause or silence. This punctuation
is also referred to as a suspension point, points of ellipsis, periods of ellipsis, or
in speech may be called, “dot-dot-dot.”

Examples:
 So…what happened?
 Um…I’m not sure that’s true.

Euphemism

Definition of Euphemism
Euphemism is used to express a mild, indirect, or vague term to substitute for a
harsh, blunt, or offensive term. Euphemism is often contrasted with dysphemism.
Some euphemisms intend to amuse, while others intend to give positive
appearances to negative events or even mislead entirely.

Examples:
 Going to the other side for death,
 Do it or come together in reference to a sexual act.

Epigram

Definition of Epigram
Epigram is a rhetorical device that is a memorable, brief, interesting, and
surprising satirical statement. It originated from the Greek word epigramma,
which means “inscription,” or “to inscribe.” Often ingenious or witty statements
are considered as epigrams, such as this quote by Eleanor Roosevelt:
Examples:
 “To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.”

 “So all my best is dressing old words new,

Spending again what is already spent:
For as the sun is daily new and old,
So is my love still telling what is told.”

Ephiphora

Definition of Ephiphora
a stylistic device in which a word or a phrase is repeated at the ends of successive
clauses. Examples of epiphora are not only found in literary pieces, but debates
and persuasive writings are also rich with epiphora examples.

Examples:
 “Hourly joys be still upon you! Juno sings her blessings on you … Scarcity
and want shall shun you, Ceres’ blessing so is on you.”

 “Fie, fie, thou shamest thy shape, thy love, thy wit,

Which, like a userer, abound’st in all,
And uses none in that true sense indeed
Which should bedeck thy shape, thy love, thy wit.”

Hyperbole

Definition of Hyperbole
Hyperbole, from a Greek word meaning "excess," is a figure of speech that uses
extreme exaggeration to make a point or show emphasis. It is the opposite
of understatement.
You can find examples of hyperbole in literature and everyday speech. You
wouldn't want to use it in nonfiction works, like reports or research papers, but
it's perfect for creative writing and communication, especially when you want to
add color to a character or humor to a story.
Hyperboles are not comparisons, like similes and metaphors, but extravagant and
even ridiculous overstatements, not meant to be taken literally. In literature,
hyperbole will often be used to show contrast or catch the reader's attention.
Let's take a closer look.

Examples:
 I've told you to clean your room a million times!
 It was so cold, I saw polar bears wearing hats and jackets.

Hypophora

Definition of Hypophora

A hypophora is a figure of speech in which the speaker both asks a question and
immediately answers it. Therefore, a hypophora is not the same as a rhetorical
question—which does not necessarily have an answer—as the speaker frames the
hypophorical question in order to answer it. Hypophora is often a way of
reasoning aloud.

Examples:
 There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you
be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of
the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.
 Do I get annoyed when people ask themselves their own questions and
answer them (rendering the interviewer irrelevant)? Yes I do. Should we
allow this virus in the paper? No we shouldn’t.

Irony

Definition of Irony
. Irony occurs when there's a marked contrast between what is said and what is
meant, or between appearance and reality.

Examples :
  "How nice!" she said, when I told her I had to work all weekend. (Verbal
irony)
 A traffic cop gets suspended for not paying his parking tickets. (Situational
irony)

Litotes

Definition of Litotes
Litotes is a figure of speech and a form of understatement in which a sentiment is
expressed ironically by negating its contrary. For example, saying "It's not the best
weather today" during a hurricane would be an example of litotes, implying
through ironic understatement that the weather is, in fact, horrible.

Examples:
 But though I have wept and fasted, wept and prayed,
Though I have seen my head (grown slightly bald) brought in upon a platter,
I am no prophet—and here's no great matter
 No, 'tis not so deep as a well nor so wide as a
church-door, but 'tis enough, 'twill serve. Ask for
me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man.

Merism

Definition of merism
A merism is a figure of speech in which something is referred to by a conventional
or socially popular phrase that points out some of its traits. Merisms often
indicate completeness and are used and reused often by most speakers of a
language. A merism describes a whole thing by describing some or all of its parts,
and is used to two different ways. The first is through using contrasting extremes,
and the second is using several, but not necessarily all, of its parts to describe a
thing. The word “merism” is derived from the Greek word merismos meaning
“dividing” or “partition.”

Examples :
 Hook, line, and sinker. (To swallow something hook, line, and sinker means
to swallow it completely.)
  Lock, stock, and barrel. (Referring to the different parts of a gun. As a
mersim, it refers to the whole of any object)

Metalepsis

Definition of Metalepsis
Metalepsis is derived from the Greek word metōnymia, which means
“substitution” or “sharing.” It is a figure of speech like metonymy or metaphor.
However, it is an advanced form of figurative speech in which one thing refers to
another thing that is only slightly related to it. There are two ways to make this
association. One is through showing causal relationship to seemingly unrelated
things. The other is through indirect intermediate replacement of terms.

Examples:
 “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. . . .
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player….”
 “As he swung toward them holding up the hand
Half in appeal, but half as if to keep
The life from spilling…”

Metaphor

Definition of Metaphor
A Metaphor is a figure of speech that makes an implicit, implied, or
hidden comparison between two things that are unrelated, but which share some
common characteristics. In other words, a resemblance of two contradictory or
different objects is made based on a single or some common characteristics.

Examples:
 My brother was boiling mad. (This implies he was too angry.)
 The assignment was a breeze. (This implies that the assignment was not
difficult.)
Metonomy

Definition of Metonomy
a figure of speech that replaces the name of a thing with the name of something
else with which it is closely associated. We can come across examples of
metonymy both from literature and in everyday life.

Examples:
 “England decides to keep check on immigration.” (England refers to the
government.)
 “The pen is mightier than the sword.” (Pen refers to written words,
and sword to military force.)

Oxymoron

Definition of Oxymoron
Oxymorons are figures of speech in which two contradictory terms are combined
in order to create a rhetorical effect by paradoxical means. The word oxymoron is
derived from the Greek for pointedly foolish (oxys = sharp/keen and moros =
foolish). Oxymorons are extremely useful in written English because they
can make effective titles, add dramatic effect, add flavor to speech, and can
sometimes be used to achieve a comedic effect. Here is a comprehensive list of 64
examples of oxymorons in sentences. In each example, the oxymoron is
underlined.

Examples :
 This is another fine mess you have got us into.
 There is a real love hate relationship developing between the two of them.

Personification

Definition of Personification
Personification is when you give an animal or object qualities or abilities that only
a human can have. This creative literary tool adds interest and fun to poems or
stories. Personification is what writers use to bring non-human things to life. It
helps us better understand the writer's message.
Examples:
 Lightning danced across the sky.
 The wind howled in the night.

Pun

Definition of Pun
A pun is a play on words that produces a humorous effect by using a word that
suggests two or more meanings, or by exploiting similar sounding words that have
different meanings.

Examples:
 The life of a patient of hypertension is always at steak.
 Why do we still have troops in Germany? To keep the Russians in Czech.

Simile

Definition of Simile
A simile is a figure of speech that makes a comparison, showing similarities
between two different things. Unlike a metaphor, a simile draws resemblance
with the help of the words “like” or “as.” Therefore, it is a direct comparison.

Examples:
 Our soldiers are as brave as lions.
 Her cheeks are red like a rose.

Synecdoche

Definition of synecdoche
Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase that refers to a part of
something is substituted to stand in for the whole, or vice versa. For example, the
phrase “all hands on deck” is a demand for all of the crew to help, yet the word
“hands”—just a part of the crew—stands in for the whole crew.

Examples:
 Boots on the ground—refers to soldiers
 New wheels—refers to a new car
Tautology

Definition of tautology
A tautology states the same thing twice in slightly different wording, or adds
redundant and unnecessary words. Tautological reasoning is logic that uses the
premise as the conclusions, or is too obvious as to be necessary.
Examples:

 “With malice toward none, and with charity for all.”—Abraham Lincoln
 “It’s no exaggeration to say the undecideds could go one way or
another.”—George H.W. Bush

Understatement

Definition of Understatement
An understatement is a figure of speech employed by writers or speakers to
intentionally make a situation seem less important than it really is.

Examples:
 “Deserts are sometimes hot, dry, and sandy.” – Describing deserts
of the world.
 “He is not too thin.” – Describing an obese person .