| Term | Definition |
|---|
| parallelism | similar structure in a series of related words, phrases, or clauses |
| antithesis | juxtaposition of contrasting ideas |
| anastrophe | inversion of natural word order |
| parenthesis | insertion of a verbal unit where it interrupts the normal syntactical flow of the sentence |
| apposition | placing side by side two co-ordinate elements, the second of which explains or modifies the first |
| ellipsis | deliberate omission of a word or words which are readily implied by the content |
| alliteration | repetition of the initial consonant sound in two or more adjacent words |
| assonance | repetition of similar vowel sounds in conjunction with dissimilar consonant sounds |
| anaphora | repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginnings of successive clauses |
| anadiplosis | repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the following clause |
| metaphor | an implied comparison of two unlike things |
| simile | an explicit comparison between two unlike things, using like or as |
| synechdoche | a part stands for the whole |
| metonymy | substitution of some associative word for what is actually meant |
| periphrasis | substitution of some associative word or phrase for a proper name |
| pun | a play on words |
| personification | giving human qualities or abilities to abstractions or inanimate objects |
| hyperbole | deliberate exaggeration for effect |
| litotes | deliberate use of understatement for effect |
| rhetorical question | asking a question without expectation of an answer |
| irony | using a word to convey a meaning opposite to its literal meaning |
| oxymoron | yoking two terms which are ordinarily contradictory |
| paradox | a seemingly contradictory statement that contains a measure of truth |
| onomatopoeia | use of word whose sound contains their meaning |
Combine with other sets
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