Below are some of the most commonly used figures of speech in writing.

FIGURES OF
DEFINITION PURPOSE EXAMPLE
SPEECH
At the funeral,
she cried buckets
of tears. (Using
Makes an
Exaggerating or the phrase
ordinary feeling
Hyperbole over emphasizing ‘buckets of tears’
intense and
an idea to mean cried a
remarkable
lot or hard makes
this sentence
exaggerated.)
You are such a
Making an
doll, darling!
implied Provides a fresh
(There is implied
comparison way of thinking
comparison
Metaphor between two or understanding
made between
different things specific aspects
the pronoun ‘you’
that have of the world.
and ‘doll’ in this
similarities
sentence.)
Makes an explicit
or direct Look at that
comparison man, he eats like
between two a pig. (The ‘man’
Makes more vivid
Simile different things is directly
description
that have compared to a
similarities by pig in terms of
using the words eating.)
‘like’ and ‘as’
There was a
deafening silence
Joining two in the room when
contradictory Provides a he entered. (The
Oxymoron words for striking and words ‘deafening’
dramatic or witty contrasting effect and ‘silence’ are
effect two words which
have opposite
meaning.)
A statement that
Makes reader
seems to
ponder an I must be cruel to
Paradox contradict itself
existing idea in a be kind.
and yet contains
fresh perspective
the truth
The fire greedily
devoured the
forest. (The use of
An animal, object Provides deeper the phrase
Personification or idea is given meaning to a ‘greedily
human qualities word devoured’ gives
human-like
attribute to the
subject ‘fire’.)
 The Palace
declared a state
of national
Replacing the calamity. (In this
name of a thing Use for creating sentence, it is not
Metonymy with something symbolic the Palace who
else related to meaning declared a state
that thing of national
calamity but
rather the
President.)
The job needed
Using part of
another pair of
something to Makes an
hands. (The
represent the ordinary idea or
Synecdoche phrase ‘pair of
whole, or the object quite
hands’ refers to a
whole to extraordinary
laborer or an
represent a part
employee.)