Figurative Language

Figurative Language Quick Guide

This quick guide highlights the most commonly used figurative language styles with examples that your students are encouraged to master.  These techniques strengthen writing and help students express ideas with emotion and originality.

Students who creatively apply these styles are more likely to be selected as gemstone winners.

Use this guide as a classroom reference or a teaching tool to help students practice and refine the figurative language that brings writing to life.

  1. Simile
    Comparison using like or as.
    *She ran like the wind.
    *His smile was as bright as the sun.
  2. Metaphor
    Direct comparison between unlike things.
    *His heart is a locked door.
    *Time is a thief that steals our moments.
  3. Hyperbole
    Extreme exaggeration.
    *I’m starving to death!
    *I have a million things to do today.
  4. Personification
    Giving human qualities to non-human things.
    *The leaves danced in the wind.
    *The moon watched over us silently.
  5. Alliteration
    Same beginning sounds in nearby words.
    *Peter Piper picked…
    *Sally sells seashells by the seashore.
  6. Assonance
    Repetition of vowel sounds.
    *The mellow bell echoed.
    *Go slow over the road.
  7. Consonance
    Repetition of consonant sounds.
    *The lumpy, bumpy road…
    *Mike likes his new bike.
  8. Onomatopoeia
    Words that imitate sounds.
    *Buzz! Crackle! Boom!
    *The bacon sizzled in the pan.
  9. Idiom
    Phrase with a meaning different from its literal words.
    *It’s raining cats and dogs.
    *Break a leg! (meaning “good luck”)
  10. Symbolism
    Objects representing deeper ideas.
    *A key = opportunity.
    *A dove = peace.
  11. Oxymoron
    Two opposite words placed together.
    *Bittersweet, jumbo shrimp.
    *Deafening silence.
  12. Imagery
    Language that appeals to the senses.
    *Warm cookies scenting the air…
    *The crisp autumn leaves crunched underfoot.
  13. Allusion
    Reference to a famous person, place, or story.
    *He was a real Romeo.
    *She had the patience of Job.
  14. Irony
    Opposite of what you expect.
    *A fire station burns down.
    *A pilot afraid of heights.
  15. Euphemism
    A polite or softer way to say something harsh.
    *“Passed away” instead of “died.”
    *“Let go” instead of “fired.”
  16. Metonymy
    Using something closely connected to represent a thing.
    *The White House announced…
    *Hollywood is obsessed with sequels.
  17. Synecdoche
    A part stands for the whole.
    *All hands on deck.
    *Wheels = car.
  18. Apostrophe
    Addressing someone absent or non-human.
    *Oh, stars, guide me!
    *Oh, ocean, why are you so restless?
  19. Paradox
    A statement that seems impossible but is true.
    *Less is more.
    * This is the beginning of the end.
  20. Pun
    A humorous play on words.
    *Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.
    *I used to be a baker, but I couldn’t make enough dough.*
  21. Analogy
    Explains an idea by comparing it to something else.
    *Life is a garden -you reap what you sow.
    *Reading a book is like traveling to another world.
  22. Litotes
    Understatement using the negative of the opposite.
    *Not bad! (meaning very good)
    *She’s not unfamiliar with hard work.
  23. Connotation
    Emotional meaning beyond a dictionary definition.
    *Home = comfort, safety.
    *Snake = danger or deceit.
  24. Juxtaposition
    Placing contrasting elements side-by-side.
    *A tiny house beside a skyscraper.
    *The calm lake mirrored the raging sky above.
  25. Anaphora
    Repetition at the beginning of lines or sentences.
    *We rise.
    We fight.
    We hope.
    *I came.
    I saw.
    I conquered.