Definition of Figure of Speech : a word or a phrase used in a different way from its usual meaning in order to create a particular mental picture or effect. (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)
In other words A Figure of Speech is a departure (or a deviation) from the ordinary form of expression or ordinary course of ideas in order to create a greater effect.
Figures of Speech with Definition and Examples:
Here is the detailed post on figure of speech with examples (figure of speech in English) :
Simile Figure of Speech :
Definition of SIMILE : Simile is a figure of speech in which a comparison is made between two objects that are not same (or that are of different kinds) which have however at least one point in common.
In Simile comparison is made by using the words “like” or “as“.
Here are some examples of SIMILE:
1. O my love’s like a red red rose.
2. Her eyes were like stars.
3. Kitty is as proud as a peacock.
4. He was running like a cheetah.
5. Life is like a dream.
6. The air smelled as sharp as newly chopped wood.
7. The righteous shall flourish as the palm tree.
8. So like a shattered column lay the king.
9. Your face is as a book where man may read strange matters.
10. Thou soul was like a star, and dwelt apart:
Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea.
Metaphor Figure of Speech :
Definition of METAPHOR: A metaphor is a figure of speech in which comparison is made between two unlike things by stating that one thing is another, often to convey a deeper meaning or to create a vivid image.
Here are some examples of METAPHOR:
1. Life is a dream.
2. Richard was a lion in the fight.
3. My eldest son is the star of the family.
4. The wish is father to the thought.
5. The camel is the ship of the desert.
6. The news was a dagger to his heart.
7. Variety is the spice of life.
8. Time is a thief.
9. The mind is an ocean.
10. Love is a battlefield.
Read our article on WORD STRESS
Personification Figure of Speech :
Definition of PERSONIFICATION: Personification is a figure of speech in which human characteristics are attributed to non-human entities, animals, or abstract concepts, giving them human-like qualities.
Examples of Personification:
1. Death lays his icy hands on kings.
2. Fair Science frowned not on his humble birth,
And Melancholy marked him for her own.
3. Laughter holding both her sides.
4. In Saxon strength that abbey frowned.
5. Pride goeth forth on horseback, grand and gay,
But cometh back on foot, and begs its way.
6. The wind whispered through the trees.
7. The sun greeted the morning with a warm smile.
8. Time marched on without waiting for anyone.
9. The stars danced in the night sky.
10. Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires
Apostrophe Figure of Speech :
Definition of APOSTROPHE: An Apostrophe is a direct and explicit address either to an absent person or to an abstract or non-human entity. In other words it is a direct address to the dead, to the absent or to a personified object or idea.
Apostrophe therefore includes Personification or it is a special form of Personification.
Examples of Apostrophe:
1. Frailty, thy name is woman!
2. O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!
3. Milton! thou shouldst be living at this hour: England hath need of thee.
4. Death, be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so.
5. Hail holy Light, offspring of Heaven firstborn!
6. Roll on, thou deep and dark blue Ocean –roll!
7. O judgement! thou art fled to brutish beasts.
8. Thou, too, sail on, O ship of State!
Sail on, O Union, strong and great!
9. O Greta, dear domestic stream!
10. And chiefly Thou, O Spirit, that dost prefer
Before all temples th’ upright heart and pure,
Instruct me….
Epigram Figure of Speech :
Definition of EPIGRAM: An epigram is a brief and witty statement, often satirical or paradoxical, that conveys a clever or insightful idea in a concise and memorable way.
Epigram’s launguage must be marked by brevity and wit.
Examples of Epigram:
1. Hypocrisy is the homage vice pays to virtue.
2. I am not young enough to know everything.
3. The child is the father of the man.
4. A little learning is a dangerous thing.
5. Art lies in concealing art.
6. The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.
7. The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.
8. In the midst of life we are in death.
9. Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other.
10. A man can’t be too careful in the choice of his enemies.
Hyperbole Figure of Speech :
Definition of HYPERBOLE: Hyperbole refers to the use of exaggeration for the sake of emphasis or effect. It involves overstating or magnifying something beyond the bounds of reality to create a vivid and heightened expression. Writers or poets often use hyperbole to evoke strong emotions, add humor, or emphasize a point in a dramatic way.
Examples of Hyperbole:
1. I have a mountain of work to do.
2. His snoring could wake the dead.
3. The bag weighed a ton.
4. I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.
5. She’s as thin as a toothpick.
6. You are slower than a snail.
7. I loved Ophelia; forty thousand brothers
could not with all their quantity of love
Make up the sum.
8. They were swifter than eagles, and stronger than lions.
9. Here’s the smell of blood still; all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.
10. I saw their chief tall as a rock of ice; his spear, the blasted fir; his shield, the rising moon; he sat on the shore, like a cloud of mist on the hill.
