FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

WHEN YOU USE WORDS IN AN IMAGINATIVE WAY TO EXPRESS IDEAS THAT ARE NOT LITERALLY TRUE

Figurative Language Simile Metaphor Personification Onomatopoeia Symbol

Hyperbole Alliteratio

n Idioms Oxymoron

Simile A figure of speech that makes a

comparison between two unlike subjects using like or as.

She is as good as gold. The book came flapping like a wounded duck.

Metaphor A figure of speech in which something is

described as if it were something else, or a comparison between unlike things.

Mr. Collins is a bear in the mornings.

Personification A type of figurative language in which a

non-human subject (animal, object, or idea) is given human characteristics.

The tea kettle sang happily.

Onomatopoeia The use of words that imitate sounds.

The cooking bacon’s aroma and sizzle woke me.

Symbol Anything that stands for or represents

something else.

An eagle often represents freedom.

Hyperbole An exaggeration for effect.

I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.

Alliteration The repetition of initial consonant sounds.

Sally sells seashells by the seashore.

Idioms An expression that has a meaning all its

own.

It’s raining cats and dogs outside.

Oxymoron A figure of speech in which opposite or

contradictory ideas are combined.

She is just a poor little rich girl.