| Term | Definition |
|---|
| allusion | a reference to an historical, mythical, religious, cultural or fictional character, place or event that the writer assumes the reader will recognize |
| antanaclasis | the repetition of a word or phrase whose meaning changes in the second instance |
| anthimeria | when a word classified as one part of speech is used as another part of speech |
| antiptosis | the purposeful misuse of these causes for effect—as in the substitution of one case for another. In English, this is done primarily with pronouns, such as using the objective form of a pronoun where one ought to use the subjective. |
| auxesis | the gradual increase in intensity of meaning or order of importance. EX: it's a well hit ball, it's a long drive, it might be, it IS... a home run |
| catachresis | strained or paradoxical use of words either in error (as 'blatant' to mean 'flagrant') or deliberately (as in a mixed metaphor: 'blind mouths') |
| epanorthosis | a figure of speech in which one amends a first thought by altering it to make it either stronger, more vehement, more accurate, less bold, or less offensive |
| hyperbole | a figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong emotion, make a point, or evoke humor |
| irony | 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 |
| litotes | a form of ironical understatement that affirms something by stating the negative of its opposite. For example, "She is no fool" instead of "She's sharp." |
| malapropism | the usually unintentionally humorous misuse or distortion of a word or phrase'; especially the use of a word sounding somewhat like the one intended but ludicrously wrong in context |
| metalepsis | reference to something by means of another thing that is remotely related to it, either through a farfetched causal relationship, or through an implied intermediate substitution of terms—often used for comic effect through its preposterous exaggeration, substituting metonymy of one figurative sense for another |
| metaphor | a figure of speech in which one thing is imaginatively compared to or identified with another, dissimilar thing; the qualities of something are ascribed to something else, qualities that it ordinarily doesn't possess. |
| metonymy | substituting the name of an attribute or feature for the name of the thing itself (as in 'they counted heads') |
| mondegreens | misheard phrases, often song lyrics |
| oxymoron | a figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase. |
| paradox | a situation or statement that seems to be impossible or self-contradicting, but is nevertheless true, either literally or figuratively |
| periphrasis | the substitution of a descriptive word or phrase for a proper name; or, conversely, the use of a proper name as a shorthand to stand for qualities associated with it |
| personification | when one gives a physical characteristic or innate quality of animation to something that is inanimate, or to an abstraction |
| praeteritio | the inclusion of something by pretending to omit it |
| pun | a "play on words" based on the multiple meanings of a single word or on words that sound alike but mean different things |
| simile | a figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things of different kinds (usually formed with 'like' or 'as') |
| spoonerism | transposition of initial consonants in a pair of words |
| syllepsis | a figure of speech in which one word (usually a verb) is understood differently in relation to two or more other words, which it modifies or governs |
| synecdoche | a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole (as hand for sailor), the whole for a part (as the law for police officer), the specific for the general (as cutthroat for assassin), the general for the specific (as thief for pickpocket), or the material for the thing made from it (as steel for sword). |
| zeugma | a general term describing when one part of speech (most often the main verb, but sometimes a noun) governs two or more other parts of a sentence (often in a series) |
| meiosis | the use of understatement to give the idea that something is less than important or smaller than it really is: "That was a pretty good movie." |
| extended metaphor | when the implicit comparison is expanded upon and deepened over the course of a poem or passage--perhaps drawing an analogy, identifying how each of the parts of one subject compare to the parts of the other subject |
| verbal irony | a trope in which the intended meaning of a statement differs from the meaning that the words appear to express |
| irony of situation | an incongruity between what is expected or intended and what actually occurs |
| dramatic irony | an effect produced by a narrative in which the audience knows more about present or future circumstances than a character in the story |
Combine with other sets
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