35 Most Used Figures of Speech

1.Accumulation –arguments previously stand are presented in a forceful man

(many used descriptions in one word)

2.Adjuction –A word or phrase or clause is placed at the beginning or at the end

Ex.Too lazy to find, I am.but get the picture do you?

3.Adnomination -repetition of Words with a change or in letter or sound.

(the repetition of the word “some” in the first part of the sentence.)

4.Alliteration - repeating a sound at the beginning of two or more words

Ex. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

5.Allusion -an implied or indirect reference to a person, event, or thing or to a

part of another text.
Ex. Chocolate cake is my Achilles heel." The allusion here is to "Achilles'
heel," or the Greek myth about the hero Achilles and how his heel was
his one weakness. In this case, the speaker's "weakness" is chocolate cake

6.Anaphora - repetition at the beginning of a sentence to create emphasis

Ex.you are lovely your are pretty your are glorious you are you are
just you are

7.Antanaclasis -repetition of a word within a phrase or sentence in which the

second occurrence utilizes a different and sometimes contrary meaning from the
first

8.Anticlimax –statements gradually descend in order of importance.

Ex.he got back hes dignity his job and his company car
Ex.in the car crash she lost her life her car and her cellphone

9.Anthiphrasis –use to mean the opposite of its normal meaning

Ex.she is 65 years young

10.Antithesis – places two completely contrasting ideas or clauses injuxtaposition.

Ex.Too many choices to little time
11.Apothrophe – exclamatory rhetorical figure od speech direct to an imaginary
person or abstact quality idea
Ex.oh moon! You have seen everything!

12.Assonance - use of words having similar vowel sounds consecutively

Ex. No pain, no gain

13.Cataphora – earlier expression refers to describes a forward expression.

Ex.if you go there now the party will start.

14.Chiasmus - “reversal of grammatical structures

Ex.people must live to work not just work to live

15.climax –phrases are arrange in order of increasing importance

Ex.three things wil remain faith hope and love but the greatest of these is love.

16.Dysphemism –use of a harsh word more offensive word

Ex.calling the tv an idiot box

17.Ellipsis -figure of speech characterized by the deliberate omission of a word or

words that are, however, understood in light of the grammatical context.
Ex.Rizal spoke seven languages bonifacio only two

18.Euohemism –used to express mild or indirect

Term for a harsh or offensive term.
Ex.saying passed away for died

19.Epigram -expressed in a witty, satirical and funny manner.

20.Epiphora - repetition of the same word or phrase at the end of sentences.

Ex. government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from
the earth."

21.Hyperbole - an intentional exaggeration for emphasis or comic effect.

Ex.i told you a million times to clean your room
22.Hypophora – the speaker reises a question and then answers it
Ex.is it a bird no is it a plane no its superman

23.Irony –there is contradiction of expression between what is said and what ir

really meant
Ex. One of those identical twins tells the other you are so ugly

24.Litotes –consisting of an understanding affirmative is expressed by negating its

opposite
Ex.instead of saying is ugly you can say someone is not very pretty

25.Merism - which a combination of two contrasting parts of the whole refer to

the whole.
Ex.saying young and old to refer to the whole population

26.Metalepsis –made to something by meanis of another thing that remotely

related to it
Ex.youve gt to watch the worm tomorrow

27.Metaphor -describes an object or action in a way that isn't literally true, but
helps explain an idea or make a comparison.
Ex.the planet Is your playground

28.Metonymy -the word for one thing is used to refer to something related to
that thing
Ex. crown for “king” or “queen,”

29.Oxymoron.combines incongruous or contradictory terms

Ex.open secret

30.Persinification -human characteristics are attributed to an abstract quality,

animal, or inanimate object
Ex.my alarm clock yells at me to get out of bed every morning.

31.Pun.involves a word play that suggests two or more meanings by exploiting

multiple meaning words
Ex.atheism is a nonprophet institution
32.Simile –comparing two unlike things
Ex.as simle as big as the sun

33.Stnecdoche –part od something is used to represet the whole of something

Ex.sixty hands voted

34.Tautology –statement that says the same things in different ways

Ex.free gift

35.Understatement -makes a situation seem less important or serious than it is.

Ex.a nurse about to givce an injection saying it will sting a bite