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The Top 50 Figures of Speech
By Richard Nordquist, About.com Guide
Trope: The use of a word, phrase, or image in a way not intended by its normal signification.
Scheme: A change in standard word order or pattern.
Figure
1 Alliteration
ah-lit-err-RAY-shun
Scheme of repetition
Definition and Illustration
The repetition of an initial consonant sound, as in “a peck of
pickled peppers.” Adjective: alliterative.
“The soul selects her own society.”
(Emily Dickinson)
From the Latin, “putting letters
together”
Also Known As: head rhyme,
initial rhyme, front rhyme
2 Allusion
ah-LOO-zhen
Trope
Alliterative slogan of Country Life butter
A brief, usually indirect reference to a person, place, or
event--real or fictional. Adjective: allusive.
From the Latin, “to play with”
Also Known As: echo, reference,
intertextuality
Big Brother is an allusion to a character in George
Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, where
citizens are constantly reminded that “Big Brother
is watching you.”
3 Amplification
A rhetorical term for all the ways that an argument, explanation, or description can be expanded and
enriched.
From the Latin “enlargement”
A natural virtue in an oral culture, amplification provides “redundancy of information, ceremonial
amplitude, and scope for a memorable syntax and diction” (Richard Lanham, A Handlist of Rhetorical
Terms, 1991).
am-pli-fi-KAY-shun
Also Known As: complexion
Alternate Spellings: simploce
4 Anadiplosis
anna di PLO sis
Scheme of repetition
From the Greek “doubling back”
Also Known As: duplicatio,
reduplicatio, redouble
“This is a crisis. A large crisis. In fact, if you've got a moment, it's a twelve-story crisis with a magnificent
entrance hall, carpeting throughout, 24-hour portage, and an enormous sign on the roof, saying 'This Is a
Large Crisis.' A large crisis requires a large plan. Get me two pencils and a pair of underpants.”
(Rowan Atkinson as Captain Blackadder in “Goodbyeee.” Blackadder Goes Forth, 1989)
A rhetorical term for the repetition of the last word of one
line or clause to begin the next.
Anadiplosis often leads to climax (see also gradatio).
Note that a chiasmus includes anadiplosis, but not every
anadiplosis reverses itself in the manner of a chiasmus.
(Henry James, “The Middle Years,” 1893)
5 Analogy
In rhetoric, reasoning or explaining from parallel cases.
Adjective: analogous.
From the Greek “proportion”
A simile is an expressed analogy; a metaphor is an
implied one.
ah-NALL-ah-gee
A visual analogy: “This is your brain. This is your
brain on drugs. Any questions?”
The Partnership for a Drug-Free America
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Trope: The use of a word, phrase, or image in a way not intended by its normal signification.
Scheme: A change in standard word order or pattern.
Figure
6 Anaphora
Definition and Illustration
A rhetorical term for the repetition of a word or phrase at
the beginning of successive clauses.
From the Greek, “carrying back”
By building toward a climax, anaphora can create a
strong emotional effect. Adjective: anaphoric.
ah-NAF-oh-rah
Scheme of repetition
Also Known As: epanaphora,
iteratio, relatio, repetitio, report
“Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she
walks into mine.” (Rick Blaine in Casablanca)
7 Anastrophe
A rhetorical term for the inversion of conventional word order.
Adjective: anastrophic.
an-AS-tro-fee
Scheme of order
Holden Caulfield using rhetorical anaphora in The
Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Richard Lanham notes that “Quintilian would confine anastrophe to a transposition of two
words only, a pattern Puttenham mocks with 'In my years lusty, many a deed doughty did
I'“ (A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms, 2nd ed., 1991).
Also Known As: hyperbaton,
inversion, transcensio, transgressio,
tresspasser
“Backward ran sentences until reels the mind. . . . Where it all will end, knows God!”
(Wolcott Gibbs, from a parody of Time magazine. The New Yorker, 1936)
8 Antimetabole
A verbal pattern in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first but with the words in
reverse grammatical order (A-B-C, C-B-A).
an-tee-meh-TA-bo-lee
Scheme of balance
From the Greek, “turning about in the
opposite direction”
“We didn't land on Plymouth Rock; Plymouth Rock landed on us.”
(Malcolm X)
Also Known As: chiasmus
“Stops static before static stops you.”
(Advertising slogan of Bounce fabric softener sheet, 1990s)
9 Antithesis
an-TITH-uh-sis
Scheme of balance
From the Greek, “opposition”
10 Aporia
eh-POR-ee-eh
Trope
From the Greek, “without passage”
11 Apostrophe
ah-POS-tro-fee
Trope
From the Greek, “turning away”
Also Known As: turne tale, aversio,
aversion
A rhetorical term for the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in
balanced phrases or clauses. Plural: antitheses. Adjective:
antithetical.
“Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing.” (Goethe)
Anastrophic slogan of Hamm's Beer: “The beer
refreshing”
The antithetical opening sentence of A Tale of Two
Cities by Charles Dickens
A figure of speech in which the speaker expresses real or
simulated doubt or perplexity. Adjective: aporetic.
In classical rhetoric, aporia means placing a claim in
doubt by developing arguments on both sides of an issue.
In the terminology of deconstruction, aporia is a final
impasse or paradox--the site at which the text most
obviously undermines its own rhetorical structure,
dismantles, or deconstructs itself.
A figure of speech in which some absent or nonexistent
person or thing is addressed as if present and capable of
understanding.
Like Socrates in Plato's dialogues, Lieutenant
Columbo (played by Peter Falk) used the rhetorical
strategy of aporia in his interrogations (Columbo,
1973).
“Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art”
(John Keats)
Apostrophe and personification in “The Sounds of
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Trope: The use of a word, phrase, or image in a way not intended by its normal signification.
Scheme: A change in standard word order or pattern.
Figure
12 Apposition
AP-uh-ZISH-un
Scheme of order
From the Latin, “to put near”
Definition and Illustration
Placing side-by-side two coordinate elements (noun phrases),
the second of which serves as an explanation or modification of
the first. Adjective: appositional.
Silence” by Paul Simon
“Miniver Cheevy, child of scorn,
grew lean while he assailed the seasons.”
(E.A. Robinson, “Miniver Cheevy”)
The slogan the beer that made Milwaukee famous
stands in apposition to Schlitz.
13 Archaism
ARE-kay-i-zem
Trope
A word or phrase (or a particular meaning of a word or phrase)
that is considered extremely old fashioned and long out of
common use. Adjective: archaic.
From the Greek, “ancient, beginning”
Also Known As: lexical zombie
Certain archaisms appear frequently in legal texts.
14 Assonance
The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds in
neighboring words. Adjective: assonant.
Scheme of repetition
“It beats . . . as it sweeps . . . as it cleans!”
(advertising slogan for Hoover vacuum cleaners, 1950s)
ASS-a-nins
From the Latin, “sound”
Also Known As: medial
rhyme (or rime), inexact
rhyme
15 Asyndeton
(brachylogia)
ah-SIN-di-ton
Scheme of omission
From the Greek, “unconnected”
Also Known As: brachylogia,
articulus
16 Chiasmus
ki-AZ-mus
Scheme of balance
A rhetorical term for a writing style that omits conjunctions
between words, phrases, or clauses (the opposite of
polysyndeton). Adjective: asyndetic.
“…that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship,
support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the
success of liberty.” (John F. Kennedy)
In rhetoric, a verbal pattern (a type of antithesis) in which the second half
of an expression is balanced against the first with the parts reversed.
Adjective: chiastic.
From the Greek, “mark with the letter
X.”
“You forget what you want to remember, and you remember what you
want to forget.”
(Cormac McCarthy, The Road, 2006)
Also Known As: antimetabole,
epanodos, inverted parallelism,
reverse parallelism, crisscross quotes,
syntactical inversion, turnaround
Chiasmus is similar to antimetabole in that it too involves a reversal of
grammatical structures in successive phrases or clauses, but it is unlike
antimetabole in that it does not involve a repetition of words. Both
chiasmus and antimetabole can be used to reinforce antithesis
An asyndetic sentence from James T. Farrell's
Young Lonigan (1959)
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Trope: The use of a word, phrase, or image in a way not intended by its normal signification.
Scheme: A change in standard word order or pattern.
Figure
17 Climax
KLI-max
Scheme of repetition
From the Greek, “ladder”
Also Known As: anabasis, ascensus,
marching figure
18 Consonance
KON-se-nens
Scheme of repetition
Definition and Illustration
In rhetoric, mounting by degrees through words or
sentences of increasing weight and in parallel
construction (see auxesis), with an emphasis on the high
point or culmination of an experience or series of events.
Adjective: climactic.
Climactic statement by Jesus Christ, reported in the
Gospel of John (14:6), The New Testament
Broadly, the repetition of consonant sounds; more specifically,
the repetition of the final consonant sounds of accented
syllables or important words.
From the Latin, “agree” + “sounds”
Also Known As: half rhyme, slant
rhyme
19 Ellipsis
ee-LIP-sis
Scheme of omission
From the Greek, “to leave out” or
“fall short”
Also Known As: elliptical
expression, elliptical clause
20 Epistrophe
eh-PI-stro-fee
Scheme of repetition
Consonance in the title of a poem by Dylan
Thomas
In grammar and rhetoric, the omission of one or more
words, which must be supplied by the listener or reader.
Adjective: elliptical or elliptic. Plural, ellipses. Related
to: Ellipsis (Punctuation)
“Wise men talk because they have something to say;
fools, because they have to say something.”
(Plato)
Henri Estienne's elliptical proverb
A rhetorical term for the repetition of a word or phrase at the
end of successive clauses. Contrast with anaphora (rhetoric).
From the Greek, “turning about”
Also Known As: antistrophe,
epiphora
21 Epithet
EP-i-tet
Trope
From the Greek, “added”
Also Known As: qualifier
A rhetorical term for an adjective (or adjective phrase) used to
characterize a person or thing. Adjective: epithetic.
“It's people. Soylent Green is made out
of people. They're making our food out
of people!” (Charlton Heston as
Detective Thorn in Soylent Green,
1973)
A Homeric epithet (also known as fixed or epic) is a formulaic phrase
(often a compound adjective) used habitually to characterize a person
or thing (for example, “blood-red sky” and “wine-dark sea”).
In contemporary usage, epithet often carries a negative connotation
and is treated as a synonym for “term of abuse” (as in the expression
“racial epithet”).
Conventional epithets
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Trope: The use of a word, phrase, or image in a way not intended by its normal signification.
Scheme: A change in standard word order or pattern.
Figure
22 Eponym
EP-i-nim
Trope
From the Greek, “named after”
Definition and Illustration
A word that is derived from the proper name of a real or mythical person
or place. Adjectives: eponymic and eponymous.
sandwich: named after John Montagu, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich
(1718–1792), a British politician.
cardigan: a knitted garment, such as a sweater or jacket, that opens down
the front. Named after the Seventh Earl of Cardigan, James Thomas
Brudenell (1797–1868), a British army officer.
German myth tells of a man
named Faust who made a pact
with the devil.
23 Euphemism
YOO-fuh-miz-em
Trope
From the Greek, “use of good words”
Also Known As: soft language,
euphemismus, conciliatio,
paradiastole, soother
24 Hyperbole
hi-PURR-buh-lee
Trope
The substitution of an inoffensive term (such as “passed
away”) for one considered offensively explicit (“died”).
Contrast with dysphemism. Adjective: euphemistic.
Dr. House: Who were you going to kill in Bolivia? My old
housekeeper?
Dr. Terzi: We don't kill anyone.
Dr. House: I'm sorry--who were you going to marginalize?
(“Whatever It Takes,” House, M.D.)
pre-owned car: a euphemism for a used car (or, in
this case, a clunker)
A
A figure of speech (a form of irony) in which
exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect; an
extravagant statement. Adjective: hyperbolic. Contrast
with understatement.
From the Greek, “excess”
Also Known As: overstatement,
exuperatio
25 Hypotaxis
hi-po-TAX-is
Scheme of order
An arrangement of phrases or clauses in a dependent or
subordinate relationship. (Contrast with parataxis.)
Adjective: hypotactic.
from Google images: An example of exaggeration
From the Greek, “subjection”
Hypotaxis
26 Innuendo
A subtle or indirect observation about a person or thing, usually of a salacious, critical,
or disparaging nature; an insinuation.
From the Latin, “by hinting”
As T. Edward Damer has noted, “The force of this fallacy lies in the impression created
that some veiled claim is true, although no evidence is presented to support such a view”
(Attacking Faulty Reasoning, 2009).
in-YOO-en-doe
Trope
Also Known As: insinuation
“The veiled threat also has a stereotype: the Mafia wiseguy offering protection with the
soft sell, 'Nice store you got there. Would be a real shame if something happened to it.'
Traffic cops sometimes face not-so-innocent questions like, 'Gee, Officer, is there some
way I could pay the fine right here?'“
(Steven Pinker, “Words Don't Mean What They Mean.” Time, Sep. 6, 2007)
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Trope: The use of a word, phrase, or image in a way not intended by its normal signification.
Scheme: A change in standard word order or pattern.
Figure
27 Irony
I-ruh-nee
Trope
Definition and Illustration
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.
From the Greek, “feigned ignorance”
Also Known As: eironeia, illusio, dry
mock
The Big Book of Irony, by Jon Winokur
(St. Martin's Press, 2007)
28 Isocolon
Scheme of Balance
From the Greek, “of equal members
or clauses”
Also Known As: parison
29 Litotes
LI-toe-teez
Trope
A rhetorical term for a succession of clauses or
sentences of approximately equal length and
corresponding structure.
An isocolon with three parallel members is known as a
tricolon. A four-part isocolon is a tetracolon climax.
An isocolon attributed to Mark Twain
A figure of speech consisting of an understatement in
which an affirmative is expressed by negating its
opposite.
From the Greek, “plainness,
simplicity”
Also Known As: antenantiosis,
moderatour
30 Malapropism
MAL-i-prop-izm
Trope
From the character of Mrs. Malaprop in
Richard Sheridan's play The Rivals (1775).
One of her noteworthy similes is “as
headstrong as an allegory on the banks of
the Nile.”
Also Known As: acyrologia
31 Metaphor
MET-ah-for
Trope
From the Greek, “carry over”
Also Known As: lexical metaphor
Absurd or humorous misuse of a word, especially by confusion
with one of similar sound. Adjective: malapropian or
malapropistic.
A figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made
between two unlike things that actually have something in
common. Adjective: metaphorical.
A metaphor expresses the unfamiliar (the tenor) in terms of the
familiar (the vehicle). When Neil Young sings, “Love is a
rose,” “rose” is the vehicle for “love,” the tenor.
Litotes attributed to Queen Victoria
Example of a malapropism, from former
Vice President Dan Quayle
Metaphors for life
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Trope: The use of a word, phrase, or image in a way not intended by its normal signification.
Scheme: A change in standard word order or pattern.
Figure
32 Metonymy
me-TON-uh-me
Trope
From the Greek, “change of name”
Also Known As: denominatio,
misnamer, transmutation
33 Onomatopoeia
ON-a-MAT-a-PEE-a
Trope
Definition and Illustration
A figure of speech in which one word or phrase is
substituted for another with which it is closely
associated (such as “crown” for “royalty”).
Metonymy is also the rhetorical strategy of
describing something indirectly by referring to things
around it, such as describing someone's clothing to
characterize the individual. Adjective: metonymic.
from Google images: “Pen” for “written word” and “sword” for “violence”
The use of words (such as hiss or murmur) that imitate the
sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to.
Adjective: onomatopoeic or onomatopoetic.
From the Latin, “make names”
Also Known As: echo word,
echoism
34 Oxymoron
ox-see-MOR-on
Trope
From the Greek, “sharp-dull”
The onomatopoeic Snap, Crackle, and Pop!
(Kellogg's Rice Krispies®)
A figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory terms
appear side by side; a compressed paradox. Adjective: oxymoronic
or oxymoric.
“I hate intolerant people.” (Gloria Steinem)
A visual oxymoron.
35 Paradox
PAR-a-dox
Trope
From the Greek, “incredible, contrary
to opinion or expectation”
A figure of speech in which a statement appears to contradict
itself. Adjective: paradoxical.
“The swiftest traveler is he that goes afoot.”
(Henry David Thoreau, Walden, 1854)
Also Known As: paradoxa (Greek)
36 Parallelism
Similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words,
phrases, or clauses.
From the Greek, “beside one another”
By convention, items in a series appear in parallel grammatical form: a noun is
listed with other nouns, an -ing form with other -ing forms, and so on. Failure
to express such items in similar grammatical form is called faulty parallelism.
PAR-a-lell-izm
Scheme of Balance
Also Known As: isocolon, parallel
structure
“When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you
cannot be too conservative.”
(Martin Luther King, Jr.)
A visual paradox from Google images: A fourleaf clover portends good luck; a black cat
portends bad luck.
Parallelism in the advertising slogan for Sony
PlayStation 2: “Live in your world. Play in ours.”
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Trope: The use of a word, phrase, or image in a way not intended by its normal signification.
Scheme: A change in standard word order or pattern.
Figure
37 Parataxis
PAR-a-TAX-iss
Scheme of order
From the Greek, “placing side by
side”
Definition and Illustration
Phrases or clauses arranged independently: a coordinate, rather
than a subordinate, construction. (Contrast with hypotaxis.)
Adjective: paratactic.
“I came; I saw; I conquered.”
(Julius Caesar)
An example of polysyndetic parataxis
38 Paronomasia
par-oh-no-MAZE-jah
(pun)
Trope
A play on words, either on different
senses of the same word or on the
similar sense or sound of different
words.
“Champagne for my real friends and real pain for
my sham friends.”
(credited to Tom Waits)
“I have a mind to join a club and beat you over the
head with it.”
(Groucho Marx)
from Google images
39 Personification
A trope or figure of speech (generally considered a type of
metaphor) in which an inanimate object or abstraction is
given human qualities or abilities.
Also Known As: prosopopoeia
“Oreo: Milk’s favorite cookie.”
(slogan on a package of Oreo cookies)
40 Polysyndeton
A rhetorical term for a sentence style that employs many
conjunctions (the opposite of asyndeton). Adjective:
polysyndetic
per-SON-if-i-KAY-shun
Trope
pol-ee-SIN-di-tin
Scheme
The United States personified as Uncle Sam
From the Greek, “bound together”
41 Polyptoton
A rhetorical term for repetition of words derived from the same
root but with different endings. Adjective: polyptotonic.
Scheme of repetition
“Choosy Mothers Choose Jif”
(commercial slogan for Jif peanut butter)
po-LIP-ti-tun
From the Greek, “use of the same
word in different cases”
Polysyndetic parataxis
A double polyptoton attributed to American poet
Robert Frost
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Trope: The use of a word, phrase, or image in a way not intended by its normal signification.
Scheme: A change in standard word order or pattern.
Figure
42 Rhetorical
Question
ri-TOR-i-kal KWEST-shun
Trope
Also Known As: erotesis, erotema,
interrogatio, questioner, reversed
polarity question (RPQ)
43 Sententia
sen-TEN-she-ah
From the Latin, “feeling, judgment,
opinion”
Also Known As: proverb, maxim
44 Simile
SIM-i-lee
Trope
From Latin, “likeness” or
“comparison”
45 Symbol
SIM-bel
Also Known As: emblem
Definition and Illustration
A question asked merely for effect with no answer
expected. The answer may be obvious or immediately
provided by the questioner.
Is this a rhetorical question?
In classical rhetoric, a maxim, proverb, aphorism, or popular quotation: a brief expression of
conventional wisdom. Plural: sententiae.
“A man's as miserable as he thinks he is.” (Seneca the Younger)
“If you wish to be loved, love.” (Seneca the Younger)
“No man is laughable who laughs at himself.” (Seneca the Younger)
“Things forbidden have a secret charm.” (Tacitus)
A figure of speech in which two fundamentally unlike
things are explicitly compared, usually in a phrase
introduced by like or as.
“He was like a cock who thought the sun had risen to
hear him crow.” (George Eliot, Adam Bede)
Similes for life
A person, place, action, word, phrase, or thing that (by
association, resemblance, or convention) represents something
other than itself. Verb: symbolize. Adjective: symbolic.
Symbol for Batman, defender of Gotham City
When a word or phrase is symbolic, it
is a
Trope
From the Greek, “token for
identification”
46 Symploce
A rhetorical term for the repetition of words or phrases at both the beginning and end of
successive clauses or verses: a combination of anaphora and epiphora (or epistrophe).
From the Greek, “interweaving”
The madman is not the man who has lost his reason. The madman is the man who has lost
everything except his reason.” (G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy, 1908)
SIM-plo-see or SIM-plo-kee
Scheme of repetition
Also Known As: complexion
Alternate Spellings: simploce
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Trope: The use of a word, phrase, or image in a way not intended by its normal signification.
Scheme: A change in standard word order or pattern.
Figure
47 Synecdoche
si-NEK-di-key
Trope
Definition and Illustration
A figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the
whole (for example, ABCs for alphabet) or the whole for a part
(“England won the World Cup in 1966”).
From the Greek, “shared
understanding”
Synecdoche is often treated as a type of metonymy. Adjective:
synecdochic or synecdochal.
Also Known As: intellectio, quick
conceit
“Take thy face hence.”
(William Shakespeare, Macbeth)
Synecdoche in the Lord's Prayer: “bread”
represents all food
9/11
48 Synesthesia
Trope
Also Known As: linguistic
synesthesia, metaphorical
synesthesia
49 Understatement
Trope
Also Known As: litotes, diminutio
50 Zeugma
ZOOG-muh
Trope
From the Greek, “a yoking, a bond”
In semantics and cognitive linguistics, a metaphorical process by which one sense
modality is described or characterized in terms of another, such as “a bright sound” or “a
quiet color.” Adjective: synesthetic.
“Meaning may be transferred from one sensory faculty to another (synesthesia), as when we apply clear, with principal reference to sight,
to hearing, as in clear-sounding. Loud is transferred from hearing to sight when we speak of loud colors. Sweet, with primary reference to
taste, may be extended to hearing (sweet music), smell (“The rose smells sweet”), and to all senses at once (a sweet person). Sharp may be
transferred from feeling to taste, and so may smooth. Warm may shift its usual reference from feeling to sight, as in warm colors, and along
with cold may refer in a general way to all senses, as in a warm (cold) welcome.”
(John Algeo and Thomas Pyles, The Origins and Development of the English Language, 5th ed. Thompson, 2005)
A figure of speech in which a writer or
speaker deliberately makes a situation seem
less important or serious than it is. Contrast
with hyperbole.
from Google images
A rhetorical term for the use of a word to modify or govern two
or more words although its use may be grammatically or
logically correct with only one. Adjective: zeugmatic.
Rhetorician Edward P.J. Corbett offers this distinction between
zeugma and syllepsis: in zeugma, unlike syllepsis, the single word
does not fit grammatically or idiomatically with one member of the
pair. Thus, in Corbett's view, the first example below would be
syllepsis, the second zeugma:


“You are free to execute your laws, and your citizens, as
you see fit.”
(Star Trek: The Next Generation)
“Kill the boys and the luggage!”
(Fluellen in William Shakespeare's Henry V)
An example of zeugma (or syllepsis) from The Jim
Henson Hour (1989)