Download Figurative Language

Ms. Graham/Ms. Mahoney
A
comparison using like or as.
 Example: His feet are as big as boats
A
comparison NOT using like or as. It states
that something is something.
 Example: Her hair is silk
 An
indirect reference designed to call
something to mind without mentioning it
 Example: Oh, you’re such a Romeo.

Reference to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
A
comparison between two different things in
order to highlight some point of similarity.
 Example: Flash drives work like a
chalkboard, in that, when information is
written on it, the information remains
present even when the power is turned off.
 Deliberate
repetition of the first part of the
sentence for emphasis. Often used as a
rhetorical device to create emotion.
 Example: “It was the best of times, it was
the worst of times, it was the age of
foolishness, it was the epoch of belief…”

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
A
figure of speech in which some absent or
nonexistent person or thing is addressed as if
present and capable of understanding, often
used when someone is dead.
 Example: “Death, be not proud!”
A
mild or indirect word or expression
substituted for one considered to be too
harsh or blunt.
 Example: vertically-challenged

Used in the place of short
 An
expression that means something other
than the literal meanings of its individual
words.
 They are overused phrases
 Example: It’s raining cats and dogs.
 Involves
one or more of your five senses – the
abilities to hear, taste, touch, smell, and
see.
 Example: The little girl’s eyes widened and a
toothless grin spread across her face before
she squealed at the sight of her new puppy.
 Two
or more ideas, places, characters and
their actions are placed side by side for the
purpose of developing comparisons and
contrasts.
 Example: I hate loving this television show.
 The
imitation of natural sounds in word
form.
 Often used in comic books when fights
happen.
 Examples: Bang! Boom! Smack!
A
figure of speech where two words with
opposite meaning are placed next to each
other.
 Examples: awfully good, bitter sweet, civil
war
A
situation, person, or thing that combines
contradictory features or qualities.
 Example: Nobody goes to that restaurant
because it’s too crowded.
 Giving
human qualities, feelings, actions, or
characteristics to inanimate objects.
 Example: The ancient car groaned into first
gear.
A
joke exploiting the different possible
meanings of a word.
 Example: My friend’s bakery burned down
last night. Now his business is toast.
 Symbolism
occurs when one thing stands for
or represents something else.
 Example: The dove symbolizes peace.