| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Simile | A figure of Speech that uses like or as, a figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things of different kinds (usually formed with 'like' or 'as') |
| Metaphor | An implicit comparison between two things unlike |
| Cacophony | A harsh, unpleasant sounding , A disagreeable, harsh, or discordant sound or combination of sounds or tones. |
| Allusion | A reference to something in previous history |
| Alliteration | use of the same consonant at the beginning of each stressed syllable in a line of verse; Ex. "Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers" |
| Paradox | (logic) a self-contradiction, a situation or statement that seems to be impossible or contradicting, but is nevertheless true, either literally or figuratively |
| Rhythm | recurring at regular intervals |
| Rhyme | correspondence in the sounds of two or more lines (especially final sounds) |
| Scansion | The process of measuring the stresses in a line of verse in order to determine the metrical pattern of the line. |
| Sarcasm | witty language used to convey insults or scorn |
| Sonnet | a verse form consisting of 14 lines with a fixed rhyme scheme |
| Sestet | a rhythmic group of six lines of verse |
| Trochee | a metrical foot used in formal poetry. It consists of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one |
| Personification | A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes |
| onomatopoeia | the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named |
| euphony | any agreeable (pleasing and harmonious) sounds |
| Assonance | the repetition of similar vowels in the stressed syllables of successive words |
| Hyperbole | extravagant exaggeration |
| metonymy | substituting the name of an attribute or feature for the name of the thing itself (as in 'they counted heads') |
| understatement | A form of irony in which something is intentionally represented as less than it is |
| irony | the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect |
| blank verse | unrhymed verse (usually in iambic pentameter) |
| euphemism | an inoffensive expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive |
| overstatement | making to seem more important than it really is |
| 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). |
| litotes | understatement for emphasis |
| iamb | a metrical unit with unstressed-stressed syllables |
| dactyl | a metrical unit with stressed-unstressed-unstressed syllables |
| spondee | a metrical unit with stressed-stressed syllables |
| anapest | a metrical unit with unstressed-unstressed-stressed syllables |
| consonance | the repetition of consonants (or consonant patterns) especially at the ends of words |
Combine with other sets
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