Terms : Hide Images
| 2663733455 | simile | An explicit comparison (using like or as): "Her lips are like roses." | 0 | |
| 2663733789 | metaphor | A word or phrase denoting one kind of object or idea used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them ("the ship ploughs the sea.") A metaphor is generally an implicit comparison (doesn't use like or as): "Her lips are roses." | 1 | |
| 2663734477 | synecdoche | substituting a part for a whole or a whole for a part. "Fifty sail" for "fifty ships"; "the smiling year" for spring. | 2 | |
| 2663735214 | metonymy | substituting the name of something for its attribute or whatever it is associated with ("crown" for king). | 3 | |
| 2663735924 | periphrasis | substituting a descriptive phrase, made up of a concrete adjective and abstract noun, for a precise word: "fringed curtains of thine eye" (= eyelashes). | 4 | |
| 2663736290 | personification | attributing animation to something inanimate ("a grieving nation"); treating a thing or abstract quality as though it were a person. | 5 | |
| 2663736828 | oxymoron | deliberate combination of seemingly contradictory words ("helpful bureaucrat;""bittersweet"). | 6 | |
| 2663737435 | onomatopoeia | the concordance of sounds and meaning. "Snap, crackle, pop." | 7 | |
| 2663737751 | assonance | recurrent vowel sounds ("sweet, sleeps, creature"). | 8 | |
| 2663737752 | alliteration | recurrent consonant sounds, frequently but not exclusively at beginning of words (e.g. in Shakespeare's Sonnet 30: sessions, sweet, silent, summon, things, past...) | 9 | |
| 2663739529 | pun | deliberate confusion of words based upon similarity of sound (waist/waste). | 10 | |
| 2663739530 | malapropism | unconscious pun; confusing "odious" for "onerous." | 11 | |
| 2663739531 | wordplay | a serious pun, as when a dying man says "tomorrow you shall find me a grave man." | 12 | |
| 2663739532 | paronomasia | wordplay based upon similar rather than identical sounds (e.g. roots/ rots). | 13 | |
| 2663740716 | repetition, parallelism, contrast, antithesis | devices which have the rational appeal of logic and the aesthetic appeal of symmetry. For example: "Suit the action to the word and the word to the action" uses contrasted repetition of "action" and "word" within parallel grammatical units (noun plus prepositional phrase). | 14 | |
| 2663741066 | anaphora | repetition of word or words beginning a series of parallel syntactical units ("this sceptered isle, ... this blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England"). | 15 | |
| 2663741395 | double epithet | two words of identical or almost identical meaning joined by a conjunction. The chief effect is richness or plenitude of style: "extravagant and erring," "foul and pestilent." One of Shakespeare's favorite devices; usually combines a Latinate and an Anglo-Saxon word. | 16 | |
| 2663741694 | transposition | rearrangement of normal word order for effect (Noun-Verb-Direct Object may become N-DO-V, e.g. "I the apple ate" for "I ate the apple"; "gentle my lord" means "my gentle lord"). | 17 | |
| 2663742081 | apostrophe | direct address of an abstraction or of someone absent ("O time!..."; "Death, be not proud!") | 18 | |
| 2663742279 | hyperbole | deliberate overstatement, exaggeration for effect ("I'm so hungry I could eat a horse"). | 19 | |
| 2663742483 | allusion | reference to or echo of familiar expressions, persons or objects from a cultural tradition (esp. biblical, classical, proverbial); e.g., a "prodigal son" alludes to the biblical parable. | 20 | |
| 2663742939 | connotation | double- and triple-level suggestive power of words; gold can connote wealth, but also beauty and excellence or greed; a dove, peace as well as innocence. | 21 | |
| 2663743697 | satiric | exposing to ridicule | 22 | |
| 2663744086 | whimsical | capricious | 23 | |
| 2663744427 | learned | scholarly | 24 | |
| 2663744872 | informative | instructive | 25 | |
| 2663745331 | somber | extremely serious | 26 | |
| 2663745938 | urgent | insistent | 27 | |
| 2663745954 | confident | sure | 28 | |
| 2663746454 | mock-heroic | satirizing that which is heroic, as in manner, character, or action | 29 | |
| 2663747149 | objective | unbiased | 30 | |
| 2663748030 | diffident | timid | 31 | |
| 2663748031 | ironic | contradictory | 32 | |
| 2663748351 | didactic | intended for instruction | 33 | |
| 2663748780 | petty | ungenerous in trivial or trifling matters | 34 | |
| 2663749084 | factual | based on facts | 35 | |
| 2663749085 | restrained | held back | 36 | |
| 2823788123 | elegiac | expressing sorrow | 37 | |
| 2663749481 | disdainful | full of scorn or contempt | 38 | |
| 2663750747 | lugubrious | mournful, especially in an exaggerated manner | 39 | |
| 2663751620 | pedantic | ostentatious in learning | 40 | |
| 2663752226 | indignant | expressing strong displeasure at something considered unjust, offensive, insulting, or base | 41 | |
| 2663752602 | bantering | characterized by good-natured exchange of light or playful remarks | 42 | |
| 2663753316 | flippant | shallow | 43 | |
| 2663753737 | condescending | implying a descent from dignity or superiority | 44 | |
| 2663753999 | patronizing | displaying an offensively condescending manner | 45 | |
| 2663754512 | facetious | not meant to be taken seriously or literally | 46 | |
| 2663755436 | clinical | dispassionately analytical | 47 | |
| 2663755711 | inflammatory | intending to arose anger, hostility, or passion | 48 | |
| 2663757620 | benevolent | charitable | 49 | |
| 2663758086 | burlesque | involving ludicrous or mocking treatment of solemn subjects | 50 | |
| 2663758124 | fanciful | led by fantasy or imagination rather than reason | 51 | |
| 2663759141 | detached | impartial | 52 | |
| 2663760049 | cynical | pessimistic | 53 | |
| 2663760467 | incisive | penetrating | 54 | |
| 2663760801 | allusive | containing references either directly or implied | 55 | |
| 2663761781 | scornful | contemptuous | 56 | |
| 2663762875 | effusive | extravagantly demonstrative | 57 | |
| 2663762876 | colloquial | conversational | 58 | |
| 2663763340 | compassionate | sympathetic | 59 | |
| 2663763341 | impartial | not biased | 60 | |
| 2663763377 | insipid | vapid | 61 | |
| 2663764820 | pretentious | ostentatious | 62 | |
| 2663765514 | vibrant | lively | 63 | |
| 2663765770 | irreverent | lacking reverence | 64 | |
| 2663765771 | sentimental | maudlin | 65 | |
| 2663766363 | moralistic | concerned with regulating morals | 66 | |
| 2663766595 | complimentary | expressing praise | 67 | |
| 2663767111 | contemptuous | scornful | 68 | |
| 2663767112 | sympathetic | compassionate | 69 | |
| 2663767529 | taunting | showing reproach with sarcasm | 70 | |
| 2663767831 | concerned | interested | 71 | |
| 2663767851 | turgid | pompous | 72 | |
| 2663768772 | sardonic | characterized by scornful derision | 73 | |
| 2663810938 | contentious | quarrelsome | 74 | |
| 2663810939 | insolent | disrespectful | 75 | |
| 2663810940 | candid | honest | 76 |
