adynaton

A form of hyperbole so great as to suggest the impossible.

"When pigs fly," "When hell freezes over"

alliteration

The repetition of the same starting sound in several consecutive words.

anacoluthon

A rhetorical device loosely defined as a change of syntax within a sentence. Grammatically, it is an error, but in rhetoric it is a figure that shows excitement, confusion, or laziness.

anadiplosis

The rhetorical repetition of a word or phrase that ends one clause at the start of the next.

anaphora (linguistics)

A reference to a preceding utterance.

"I took an apple and ate it."

anaphora (rhetorics)

The repetition of words or phrases for rhetorical effect at the beginning of successive phrases.

Churchill's "We shall fight them on the beaches" speech.

anastrophe

Inversion of the natural order of words. "The forest primeval"

anthimeria The use of a word as if it were a different part of speech, usually of a noun as a verb.

to oscar, to google, to medal

antimetabole

The repetition of words in successive clauses in reverse order.

"Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."

antonomasia

The substitution of an epithet for a proper name.

"The Bard" for Shakespeare, "The Scottish Play" for MacBeth.

apostrophe

Figure of speech in which an absent person, a personified inanimate being, or an abstraction is addressed as though present.

"O death, where is thy sting?"

apothegm or apophthegm

A terse, instructive saying; a maxim.

aphorism

See apophthegm.

archaism

The deliberate use of an outdated form of language.

"Thee," "thy," etc.

assonance

Repetition of the same sound in nearby words.

asyndeton

The omission of conjunctions as a stylistic device.

"I came, I saw, I conquered."

auxesis

A form of hyperbole where something is referred to by a term disproportionate to its importance for the purpose of amplifying that importance.

ads referring to a film as an "epic"

catachresis

The intentional misapplication of a word to create an impossible figure of speech.

"The knife-edge of history."

cataphora

An expression that refers to a later expression in the sentence or text.

consonance

The repetition of consonants, particularly at the ends of words.

dysphemism

The substitution of a harsh, disparaging, or unpleasant expression for a more neutral one.

"Team A slaughtered team B."

enantiosis

A rhetorical device of ironically stating the opposite of what is meant.

epanalepsis

The repetition of a word or a phrase with intervening words in between, often at the beginning and end of a sentence.

epanorthosis

The rephrasing of an immediately preceding word or statement for the purpose of intensification, emphasis, or justification.

"Thousands, no, millions"

epistrophe

The repetition of words or phrases for rhetorical effect at the end of successive phrases.

"Government of the people, by the people, for the people."

epizeuxis

The repetition of words with no others in between, usually for emphasis.

"Words, words, words."

euphemism

The substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant.

"Passed away" instead of "died".

hypallage

A literary device that is the reversal of the syntactic relation of two words (as in "her beauty's face"). Also a trope or rhetorical device, in which a modifier, usually an adjective, is applied to the "wrong" word in the sentence.

hyperbaton

The use of a word order other than the expected or usual one.

"You I love," "Do or do not."

hyperbole

Intentional exaggeration for emphasis.

"He's a million years old," "to wait an eternity."

hypocatastasis

A comparison or representation that does not include the subject thereof.

"Beast!" as opposed to "You're a beast!"

hypocorisma

Pet name.

hypophora

Answering one's own (often rhetorical) question as a rhetorical device.

isocolon

The reinforcement of parallelism by the use of words of similar length.

"Veni, vidi, vici." "No ifs, ands or buts."

metalepsis

Making reference to an object by mentioning something only remotely associated with it.

The Japanese use of "hammer" for someone who cannot swim.

metaphor

An indirect comparison between objects that does not use "like," "as," etc.

"He's an animal."

neologism

The creation or use of new words or new senses of existing words.

onomatopoeia

The formation of a word by imitation of a sound made by or associated with its referent.

"Oink," "Buzz."

oxymoron

A figure of speech that combines two normally contradictory terms.

"That brilliant George W. Bush."

parenthesis

An aside, an explanatory or qualifying phrase inserted into a sentence to which it may have no grammatical connection.

paraprosdokian

The use of an unexpected ending to a list or phrase, usually for joking or dramatic effect.

"It was a beautiful morning, the birds were singing, the sun was shining, and then I was run over by a bus."

polyptoton

The repetition of different words derived from the same root ("strong" and "strength)".

portmanteau

A neologism created by merging two existing terms.

"Motel" from "motor hotel."

prolepsis

A figure of speech in which a future event is referred to in anticipation. (See also procatalepsis)

"Dead man walking."

prosopopeia

The representation of an absent or imaginary person or object as speaking.

"___ would be turning over in his grave."

procatalepsis

A figure of speech in which the speaker raises an objection to his own argument and then immediately answers it.

retronym

A modification of an existing term to distinguish it from newer variations.

"Silent film," "Acoustic Guitar."

simile

A comparison between two things, typically using "like" or "as."

synesis

A grammatical construction in which two words differ in number but agree in meaning.

"If anyone calls, tell them I'm out."

tautology

A redundancy, saying the same thing twice.

"free gift," "tuna fish"

Updated on September 7, 2009