what is figurative language in creative writing

Figurative Language

Figurative Language Definition

What is figurative language? Here’s a quick and simple definition:

Figurative language is language that contains or uses figures of speech . When people use the term "figurative language," however, they often do so in a slightly narrower way. In this narrower definition, figurative language refers to language that uses words in ways that deviate from their literal interpretation to achieve a more complex or powerful effect. This view of figurative language focuses on the use of figures of speech that play with the meaning of words, such as metaphor , simile , personification , and hyperbole .

Some additional key details about figurative language:

• Figurative language is common in all sorts of writing, as well as in spoken language.
• Figurative language refers to language that contains figures of speech, while figures of speech are the particular techniques. If figurative speech is like a dance routine, figures of speech are like the various moves that make up the routine.
• It's a common misconception that imagery, or vivid descriptive language, is a kind of figurative language. In fact, writers can use figurative language as one tool to help create imagery, but imagery does not have to use figurative language.

Figurative Language Pronunciation

Here's how to pronounce figurative language: fig -yer-uh-tiv lang -gwij

Figures of Speech and Figurative Language

To fully understand figurative language, it's helpful to have a basic understanding of figures of speech. More specifically, it's helpful to understand the two main types of figures of speech: tropes and schemes .

• Tropes are figures of speech that play with and shift the expected and literal meaning of words.
• Schemes are figures of speech that involve a change from the typical mechanics of a sentence, such as the order, pattern, or arrangement of words.

Put even more simply: tropes play with the meaning of words, while schemes play with the structure of words, phrases, and sentences.

The Different Things People Mean When They Say Figurative Language

When people say figurative language, they don't always mean the precise same thing. Here are the three different ways people usually talk about figurative language:

• Dictionary definition of figurative language: According to the dictionary, figurative language is simply any language that contains or uses figures of speech. This definition would mean that figurative language includes the use of both tropes and schemes.
• Much more common real world use of figurative language: However, when people (including teachers) refer to figurative language, they usually mean language that plays with the literal meaning of words. This definition sees figurative language as language that primarily involves the use of tropes.
• Another common real world use of figurative language: Some people define figurative language as including figures of speech that play with meaning as well as a few other common schemes that affect the rhythm and sound of text, such as alliteration and assonance .

What does all that boil down to for you? If you hear someone talking about figurative language, you can usually safely assume they are referring to language that uses figures of speech to play with the meaning of words and, perhaps, with the way that language sounds or feels.

Common Types of Figurative Language

There are many, many types of figures of speech that can be involved in figurative language. Some of the most common are:

• Metaphor : A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unrelated things by stating that one thing is another thing, even though this isn't literally true. For example, the phrase "her lips are a blooming rose" obviously doesn't literally mean what it says—it's a metaphor that makes a comparison between the red beauty and promise of a blooming rose with that of the lips of the woman being described.
• Simile : A simile, like a metaphor, makes a comparison between two unrelated things. However, instead of stating that one thing is another thing (as in metaphor), a simile states that one thing is like another thing. An example of a simile would be to say "they fought like cats and dogs."
• Oxymoron : An oxymoron pairs contradictory words in order to express new or complex meanings. In the phrase "parting is such sweet sorrow" from Romeo and Juliet , "sweet sorrow" is an oxymoron that captures the complex and simultaneous feelings of pain and pleasure associated with passionate love.
• Hyperbole : Hyperbole is an intentional exaggeration of the truth, used to emphasize the importance of something or to create a comic effect. An example of a hyperbole is to say that a backpack "weighs a ton." No backpack literally weighs a ton, but to say "my backpack weighs ten pounds" doesn't effectively communicate how burdensome a heavy backpack feels.
• Personification : In personification, non-human things are described as having human attributes, as in the sentence, "The rain poured down on the wedding guests, indifferent to their plans." Describing the rain as "indifferent" is an example of personification, because rain can't be "indifferent," nor can it feel any other human emotion.
• Idiom : An idiom is a phrase that, through general usage within a particular group or society, has gained a meaning that is different from the literal meaning of the words. The phrase "it's raining cats and dogs" is known to most Americans to mean that it's raining hard, but an English-speaking foreigner in the United States might find the phrase totally confusing.
• Onomatopoeia : Onomatopoeia is a figure of speech in which words evoke the actual sound of the thing they refer to or describe. The “boom” of a firework exploding, the “tick tock” of a clock, and the “ding dong” of a doorbell are all examples of onomatopoeia.
• Synecdoche : In synecdoche, a part of something is used to refer to its whole . For example, "The captain commands one hundred sails" is a synecdoche that uses "sails" to refer to ships—ships being the thing of which a sail is a part.
• Metonymy : Metonymy is a figure of speech in which an object or concept is referred to not by its own name, but instead by the name of something closely associated with it. For example, in "Wall Street prefers lower taxes," the New York City street that was the original home of the New York Stock Exchange stands in for (or is a "metonym" for) the entire American financial industry.
• Alliteration : In alliteration, the same sound repeats in a group of words, such as the “ b ” sound in: “ B ob b rought the b ox of b ricks to the b asement.” Alliteration uses repetition to create a musical effect that helps phrases to stand out from the language around them.
• Assonance : The repetition of vowel sounds repeat in nearby words, such as the " ee " sound: "the squ ea ky wh ee l gets the gr ea se." Like alliteration, assonance uses repeated sounds to create a musical effect in which words echo one another.

Figurative Language vs. Imagery

Many people (and websites) argue that imagery is a type of figurative language. That is actually incorrect. Imagery refers to a writers use of vivid and descriptive language to appeal to the reader's senses and more deeply evoke places, things, emotions, and more. The following sentence uses imagery to give the reader a sense of how what is being described looks, feels, smells, and sounds:

The night was dark and humid, the scent of rotting vegetation hung in the air, and only the sound of mosquitoes broke the quiet of the swamp.

This sentence uses no figurative language. Every word means exactly what it says, and the sentence is still an example of the use of imagery. That said, imagery can use figurative language, often to powerful effect:

The night was dark and humid, heavy with a scent of rotting vegetation like a great-aunt's heavy and inescapable perfume, and only the whining buzz of mosquitoes broke the silence of the swamp.

In this sentence, the description has been made more powerful through the use of a simile ("like a great-aunt's..."), onomatopoeia ("whining buzz," which not only describes but actually sounds like the noise made by mosquitoes), and even a bit of alliteration in the " s ilence of the s wamp."

To sum up: imagery is not a form of figurative language. But a writer can enhance his or her effort to write imagery through the use of figurative language.

Figurative Language Examples

Figurative language is more interesting, lively, beautiful, and memorable than language that's purely literal. Figurative language is found in all sorts of writing, from poetry to prose to speeches to song lyrics, and is also a common part of spoken speech. The examples below show a variety of different types of figures of speech. You can see many more examples of each type at their own specific LitChart entries.

Figurative Language Example: Metaphor

Metaphor in shakespeare's romeo and juliet.

In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet , Romeo uses the following metaphor in Act 2 Scene 2 of Romeo and Juliet , after sneaking into Juliet's garden and catching a glimpse of her on her balcony:

But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.

Romeo compares Juliet to the sun not only to describe how radiantly beautiful she is, but also to convey the full extent of her power over him. He's so taken with Juliet that her appearances and disappearances affect him like those of the sun. His life "revolves" around Juliet like the earth orbits the sun.

Figurative Language Example: Simile

In this example of a simile from Slaughterhouse-Five , Billy Pilgrim emerges from an underground slaughterhouse where he has been held prisoner by the Germans during the deadly World War II firebombing of Dresden:

It wasn't safe to come out of the shelter until noon the next day. When the Americans and their guards did come out, the sky was black with smoke. The sun was an angry little pinhead. Dresden was like the moon now , nothing but minerals. The stones were hot. Everybody else in the neighborhood was dead.

Vonnegut uses simile to compare the bombed city of Dresden to the moon in order to capture the totality of the devastation—the city is so lifeless that it is like the barren moon.

Figurative Language Example: Oxymoron

These lines from Chapter 7 of Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls describe an encounter between Robert Jordan, a young American soldier fighting in the Spanish Civil War, and his lover María.

She held herself tight to him and her lips looked for his and then found them and were against them and he felt her, fresh, new and smooth and young and lovely with the warm, scalding coolness and unbelievable to be there in the robe that was as familiar as his clothes, or his shoes, or his duty and then she said, frightenedly, “And now let us do quickly what it is we do so that the other is all gone.”

The couple's relationship becomes a bright spot for both of them in the midst of war, but ultimately also a source of pain and confusion for Jordan, as he struggles to balance his obligation to fight with his desire to live happily by Maria's side. The contradiction contained within the oxymoron "scalding coolness" emphasizes the couple's conflicting emotions and impossible situation.

Figurative Language Example: Hyperbole

Elizabeth Bennet, the most free-spirited character in Pride and Prejudice , refuses Mr. Darcy's first marriage proposal with a string of hyperbole :

From the very beginning, from the first moment I may almost say, of my acquaintance with you, your manners impressing me with the fullest belief of your arrogance, your conceit, and your selfish disdain of the feelings of others, were such as to form that ground-work of disapprobation, on which succeeding events have built so immoveable a dislike; and I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry.

Elizabeth's closing statement, that Darcy is the "last man in the world" whom she would ever marry, is an obvious hyperbole. It's hard to believe that Elizabeth would rather marry, say, an axe murderer or a diseased pirate than Mr. Darcy. Even beyond the obvious exaggeration, Austen's use of hyperbole in this exchange hints at the fact that Elizabeth's feelings for Darcy are more complicated than she admits, even to herself. Austen drops various hints throughout the beginning of the novel that Elizabeth feels something beyond mere dislike for Darcy. Taken together with these hints, Elizabeth's hyperbolic statements seem designed to convince not only Darcy, but also herself, that their relationship has no future.

Figurative Language Example: Personification

In Chapter 1 of The Scarlet Letter , Nathaniel Hawthorne describes a wild rose bush that grows in front of Salem's gloomy wooden jail:

But, on one side of the portal, and rooted almost at the threshold, was a wild rose-bush, covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems, which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in, and to the condemned criminal as he came forth to his doom, in token that the deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind to him.

In the context of the novel's setting in 17th century Boston, this rose bush, which grows wild in front of an establishment dedicated to enforcing harsh puritan values, symbolizes those elements of human nature that cannot be repressed, no matter how strict a community's moral code may be: desire, fertility, and a love of beauty. By personifying the rosebush as "offering" its blossoms to reflect Nature's pity (Nature is also personified here as having a "heart"), Hawthorne turns the passive coincidence of the rosebush's location into an image of human nature actively resisting its constraints.

Figurative Language Example: Idiom

Figurative language example: onomatopoeia.

In Act 3, Scene 3 of Shakespeare's The Tempest , Caliban uses onomatopoeia to convey the noises of the island.

Be not afeard. The isle is full of noises, Sounds, and sweet airs that give delight and hurt not. Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices...

The use of onomatopoeia makes the audience feel the sounds on the island, rather than just have to take Caliban's word about there being noises.

Figurative Language Example: Synecdoche

In Act 4, Scene 3 of Shakespeare's Macbeth , an angry Macbeth kicks out a servant by saying:

Take thy face hence.

Here, "thy face" stands in for "you." Macbeth is simply telling the servant to leave, but his use of synecdoche makes the tone of his command more harsh and insulting because he uses synecdoche to treat the servant not as a person but as an object, a body part.

Figurative Language Example: Metonymy

In his song "Juicy," Notorious B.I.G. raps:

Now I'm in the limelight 'cause I rhyme tight

Here he's using "limelight" as a metonymy for fame (a "limelight" was a kind of spotlight used in old theaters, and so it came to be associated with the fame of being in the spotlight). Biggie's use of metonymy here also sets him up for a sweet rhyme.

Figurative Language Example: Alliteration

In his song "Rap God," Eminem shows his incredible lyrical dexterity by loading up the alliteration :

S o I wanna make sure, s omewhere in this chicken s cratch I S cribble and doodle enough rhymes T o maybe t ry t o help get s ome people through t ough t imes But I gotta k eep a few punchlines Just in c ase, ‘ c ause even you un s igned Rappers are hungry l ooking at me l ike it's l unchtime…

Why Do Writers Use Figurative Language?

The term figurative language refers to a whole host of different figures of speech, so it's difficult to provide a single definitive answer to why writers use figurative language. That said, writers use figurative language for a wide variety of reasons:

• Interest and beauty: Figurative language allows writes to express descriptions, ideas, and more in ways that are unique and beautiful.
• Complexity and power: Because figurative language can create meanings that go beyond the literal, it can capture complex ideas, feelings, descriptions, or truths that cause readers to see things in a new way, or more closely mirror the complex reality of the world.
• Visceral affect: Because figurative language can both impact the rhythm and sound of language, and also connect the abstract (say, love) with the concrete (say, a rose), it can help language make an almost physical impact on a reader.
• Humor: By allowing a writer to layer additional meanings over literal meanings, or even to imply intended meanings that are the opposite of the literal meaning, figurative language gives writers all sorts of options for creating humor in their writing.
• Realism: People speak and even think in terms of the sorts of comparisons that underlie so much figurative language. Rather than being flowery, figurative language allows writers to describe things in ways that match how people really think about them, and to create characters who themselves feel real.

In general, figurative language often makes writing feel at once more accessible and powerful, more colorful, surprising, and deep.

Other Helpful Figurative Language Resources

• The dictionary definition of figurative : Touches on figurative language, as well as some other meanings of the word.
• Figurative and Frost : Examples of figurative language in the context of the poetry of Robert Frost.
• Figurative YouTube : A video identifying various forms of figurative language from movies and television shows.
• Wikipedia on literal and figurative language : A bit technical, but with a good list of examples.

• PDFs for all 136 Lit Terms we cover
• Downloads of 1929 LitCharts Lit Guides
• Teacher Editions for every Lit Guide
• Explanations and citation info for 40,694 quotes across 1929 books
• Downloadable (PDF) line-by-line translations of every Shakespeare play
• Alliteration
• Figure of Speech
• Onomatopoeia
• Personification
• Extended Metaphor
• Connotation
• Understatement
• Parallelism
• Rising Action
• Stream of Consciousness
• Foreshadowing
• Dynamic Character
• Static Character

• Link to facebook
• Link to linkedin
• Link to twitter
• Link to youtube
• Writing Tips

Figurative Language – Definition and Examples

3-minute read

• 13th April 2023

In this article, you’ll learn about figurative language: what it is, how to use it, and lots of examples to inspire your everyday speech and descriptive writing .

What is Figurative Language?

Figurative language is language that uses words or expressions with a meaning that is different from the literal interpretation. It is often used to create imagery, evoke emotion, or emphasize a point in a way that literal language cannot. Think of it as painting a picture with words in the minds of your audience – for example, “She was as light as a feather while dancing.”

5 Types of Figurative Language

Below, we’ll look at five types of figurative language – metaphor, idiom, simile, hyperbole, and personification – that you can use in an essay, poem , speech, or conversation.

A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two things by stating that one thing is another, without using “like” or “as.” Metaphors are used to create imagery, evoke emotions, and help readers or listeners to understand an idea or concept in a new and interesting way.

Here are some examples of metaphors:

An idiom is a phrase or expression that has a figurative meaning that is different from the literal meaning of the words. Idioms are often used in informal or conversational language to add color or humor.

Here are some examples of idioms:

If you want to include idioms in your everyday speech or writing, make sure you fully understand the figurative meaning before using them. If used incorrectly, they can cause confusion for your audience.

A simile is a figure of speech that compares two things using “like” or “as.” They are a great writing technique to create vivid imagery and a memorable comparison.

Find this useful?

Subscribe to our newsletter and get writing tips from our editors straight to your inbox.

Here are some examples of similes:

Hyperbole is a figure of speech that involves exaggeration for emphasis or effect. It is mostly used to emphasize a point in a funny or memorable way. Hyperbole is great to use in everyday language or writing, but it’s important to use it in moderation – otherwise, it can come across as insincere or unbelievable.

Here are some examples of hyperbole:

Personification

Personification is a figure of speech in which an inanimate object or animal is given human-like qualities or characteristics. This technique is mostly used in poetry or descriptive writing to create vivid imagery.

Here are some examples of personification:

Figurative language is a great addition to your everyday speech and is frequently used in literature and poetry. It can add depth and richness to language, making it more interesting and expressive. However, it can also be confusing if the reader or listener does not understand the intended meaning of the figurative language. Therefore, it is important to have a basic understanding of figurative language in order to fully appreciate and understand written and spoken communication.

Interested in learning more about how use descriptive language and vivid imagery? Check out our Writing Tips blog to learn more.

Share this article:

Post A New Comment

Got content that needs a quick turnaround? Let us polish your work. Explore our editorial business services.

9-minute read

How to Use Infographics to Boost Your Presentation

Is your content getting noticed? Capturing and maintaining an audience’s attention is a challenge when...

8-minute read

Why Interactive PDFs Are Better for Engagement

Are you looking to enhance engagement and captivate your audience through your professional documents? Interactive...

7-minute read

Seven Key Strategies for Voice Search Optimization

Voice search optimization is rapidly shaping the digital landscape, requiring content professionals to adapt their...

4-minute read

Five Creative Ways to Showcase Your Digital Portfolio

Are you a creative freelancer looking to make a lasting impression on potential clients or...

How to Ace Slack Messaging for Contractors and Freelancers

Effective professional communication is an important skill for contractors and freelancers navigating remote work environments....

How to Insert a Text Box in a Google Doc

Google Docs is a powerful collaborative tool, and mastering its features can significantly enhance your...

Make sure your writing is the best it can be with our expert English proofreading and editing.

Figurative Language

Figurative language definition.

Figurative language uses figures of speech to be more effective, persuasive, and impactful.

Figures of speech such as metaphors , similes, and allusions go beyond the literal meanings of the words to give readers new insights. On the other hand, alliterations, imageries, or onomatopoeias are figurative devices that appeal to the senses of the readers.

Figurative language can appear in multiple forms with the use of different literary and rhetorical devices . According to Merriam Webster’s Encyclopedia, the definition of figurative language has five different forms:

• Understatement or Emphasis
• Relationship or Resemblance
• Figures of Sound
• Verbal Games

Types of Figurative Language

The term figurative language covers a wide range of literary devices and techniques, a few of which include:

Personification

• Onomatopoeia

Alliteration

• Understatement

Short Examples of Figurative Language

• His friend is as black as coal.
• He has learned gymnastics, and is as agile as a monkey.
• When attacked in his home, he will fight like a caged tiger.
• Can you dance like a monkey?
• Even when he was told everything, he was acting like a donkey.
• My Friend is a Shakespeare when in English class.
• He was a roaring lion in anger, though now he is silent.
• They seem like jackals when running in fear.
• Kisses are roses in the spring .
• This world is a sea of anonymous faces.
• The house stood half-demolished and abandoned.
• He left with his haunted and spell-bound face.
• He did not like the odorless and colorless shape of water.
• His friend was looking at spooky glissando twangs.
• Zigzag fissures in the land made him look for snakes .
• The light on the site did not let him see the sight.
• He heard the sound of the fire, like wire striking the air.
• This artificial stream is going to flow to the downtown of the town.
• Please set the kite right.
• Might of the fright seems greater than the actual fear.
• He lets the pink ball fall with a tall man.
• They have not learned how to catch the cat.
• Get a seat with a treat in our local hall.
• Calling the cow an ox is like putting the cart before the horse.
• He saw the pink kite floating past the tall trees .
• He is dying with his untrustworthy belief.
• Sharply blunt razor cannot do anything to you.
• Kindly cruel treatment made him flabbergasted.
• Please, watch with closed eyes and you will see the heaven.
• Creatively dull person cannot do anything in his life.
• The Pentagon is located in Washington in the United States.
• The Hollywood is a home of English movies.
• 10 Downing Street is located in London .
• Buckingham Palace is world’s oldest symbol of democracy.
• The White House.
• He does not know how to behave with the special people.
• He is looking at his own grey hair and his agility.
• They saw a fleet of fifty.
• At this time, he owns nine head of cattle.
• The new generation is addicted to the use of plastic money.

Examples of Figurative Language from Literature

Example #1: the base stealer (by robert francis).

Poised between going on and back, pulled Both ways taut like a tight-rope walker, Now bouncing tiptoe like a dropped ball, Or a kid skipping rope, come on, come on! … Taunts them, hovers like an ecstatic bird, He’s only flirting, crowd him, crowd him,

The similes and word choice of this poem makes it a masterpiece. The poet use similes between the lines to depict his scattered thoughts before taking action, and makes comparison as, “ like a tight-rope ,” “ like a dropped ball ,” and “ hovers like an ecstatic bird .”

Example #2: I Know Why the Cage Bird Sings (By Maya Angelou)

But a BIRD that stalks down his narrow cage Can seldom see through his bars of rage His wings are clipped and his feet are tied The caged bird sings with a fearful trill … And his tune is heard on the distant hill for The caged bird sings of freedom.

The entire poem is rich with metaphor as a bird in a cage represents a group of people who are oppressed and cannot get freedom. The cage represents physical barriers, fear, addiction, or society; while the song of the bird represents true self yearning for something greater in life.

Example #3: She Sweeps with Many-Colored Brooms (By Emily Dickinson)

She sweeps with many-colored Brooms And leaves the Shreds behind Oh Housewife in the Evening West Come back, and dust the Pond!

Dickinson uses personification of a housewife to describe the sunset in the very first line of this poem. She is using a sweeping housewife who does her daily work, likewise the rays of the setting sun sweep away beneath the horizon.

Example #4: The Raven (By Edgar Allen Poe)

O nce upon a midnight dreary w hile I pondered w eak and w eary ; r are and r adiant maiden; And the s ilken s ad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain … D eep into that d arkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, D oubting, d reaming d reams no mortal ever d ared to d ream before.

Poe uses alliteration by repeating the /w/ sound to emphasize the weariness of the narrator , and then /r/ and /s/ sounds in the second and third lines respectively. In the last two lines, the /d/ sound highlights the narrator’s hopelessness.

Example #5: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (By Samuel Taylor Coleridge)

Ah ! well a-day ! what evil looks Had I from old and young ! Instead of the cross , the Albatross About my neck was hung.

In these lines, the albatross symbolizes a big mistake, or a burden of sin, just like the cross on which Christ was crucified. Therefore, all people on the ship agreed to slay that bird.

Example #6: The Bluest Eyes (By Toni Morrison)

Personification, consonance, and simile.

She ran down the street, the green knee socks making her legs look like wild dandelion of stems that had somehow lost their heads. The weight of her remark stunned us.

This excerpt uses different devices that make language figurative. There is a good use of simile , “legs look like wild dandelion;” and personification, “lost their heads;” and use of consonance in “stunned us,” where the /s/ is a consonant sound.

Example #7: The Week of Diana (By Maya Angelou)

Metaphor, consonance, personification.

“The dark lantern of world sadness has cast its shadow upon the land. We stumble into our misery on leaden feet.”

in just these two lines, Maya Angelou has used a metaphor of the dark lantern, consonance of the /s/ sounds, and personification of misery.

Example #8: The Negro Speaks of River (By Langston Hughes)

Consonance, simile.

“I’ve known rivers: I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins. My soul has grown deep like the rivers.”

This prince of the Harlem Renaissance has beautifully used a different type of consonance with the /l/ sound and a simile of “my soul.”

Example #9: Musée des Beaux Arts (By W. H. Auden)

Personification, consonance.

That even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course Anyhow in a corner, some untidy spot Where the dogs go on with their doggy W. H. Auden life and the torturer’s horse Scratches its innocent behind on a tree.

W. H. Auden has used a personification of the “dreadful martyrdom,” and consonances of “some untidy spot,” with the /s/ sound, and “dogs go on with their doggy life,” with the /d/ and /g/ sounds.

Function of Figurative Language

The primary function of figurative language is to force readers to imagine what a writer wants to express. Figurative language is not meant to convey literal meanings, and often it compares one concept with another in order to make the first concept easier to understand. However, it links the two ideas or concepts with the goal of influencing the audience to understand the link, even if it does not exist.

Poets and prose writers use this technique to bring out emotions and help their readers form images in their minds. Thus, figurative language is a useful way of conveying an idea that readers cannot understand otherwise, due to its complex and abstract nature. In addition, it helps in analyzing a literary text.

Related posts:

•   Examples Of Figurative Language In Poetry
• Examples of Figurative Language in Rap Songs
• Examples Of Figurative Language In Popular Songs
• Examples Of Figurative Language In Children’s Poetry and Rhymes
• Sensory Language

Post navigation

School of Writing, Literature, and Film

• BA in English
• BA in Creative Writing
• About Film Studies
• Film Faculty
• Minor in Film Studies
• Film Studies at Work
• Minor in English
• Minor in Writing
• Minor in Applied Journalism
• Scientific, Technical, and Professional Communication Certificate
• Academic Advising
• Student Resources
• Scholarships
• MA in English
• MFA in Creative Writing
• Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies (MAIS)
• Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing
• Undergraduate Course Descriptions
• Graduate Course Descriptions
• Faculty & Staff Directory
• Faculty by Fields of Focus
• Promoting Your Research
• 2024 Spring Newsletter
• Commitment to DEI
• Twitter News Feed
• 2022 Spring Newsletter
• OSU - University of Warsaw Faculty Exchange Program
• SWLF Media Channel
• Student Work
• View All Events
• The Stone Award
• Conference for Antiracist Teaching, Language and Assessment
• Continuing Education
• Alumni Notes
• Featured Alumni
• Donor Information
• Support SWLF

What is Figurative Language? | A Guide to Literary Terms

"what is figurative language" a guide for english students and teachers.

View the full series: The Oregon State Guide to English Literary Terms

• Guide to Literary Terms
• BA in English Degree
• BA in Creative Writing Degree
• Apply to OSU

What is Figurative Language? Transcript (English and Spanish Subtitles Available in Video, Click HERE for Spanish Transcript)

By Peter Betjemann , Oregon State University Professor of American Literature and Former Chair

29 October 2019

In both literature and daily communication, many sentences contains figurative language. Figurative language makes meaning by asking the reader or listener to understand something (a "vehicle" ) by virtue of its relation to some other thing, action, or image (a "tenor" ). Figurative language can be contrasted with literal language, which describes something explicitly rather than by reference to something else.

Here’s a very basic example. Let’s say I want to describe how I took a rafting trip down an Oregon river. I could say “our raft bumped through Class IV rapids and I felt scared.” That’s a very literal way of describing my experience.

figurative_language_image.jpg

Or I could say “our raft bucked like wild bronco as we shot through walls of water, my heart jackhammering in my chest.” That’s a highly figurative and much more evocative way of characterizing the experience.

figurative_language_example.jpg

In the figurative version, I used a simile (“our raft bucked like a wild bronco”) and two metaphors (one: “we shot through walls of water” and two: my heart was “jackhammering” in my chest). You can find Oregon State videos that will teach you about simile and metaphor, as well as two additional kinds of figurative language that have complex names but that aren’t hard to understand, metonymy and synecdoche . I recommend that you watch all four videos together, as the similarities and differences between simile, metaphor, metonym, and synecdoche will give you a great overview of how figurative language works to characterize all kinds of vivid experiences.

Want to cite this?

MLA Citation: Betjemann, Peter. "What is Figurative Language?" Oregon State Guide to English Literary Terms, 29 Oct. 2019, Oregon State University, https://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/wlf/what-figurative-language. Accessed [insert date].

Further Resources for Teachers

Other terms referenced in this video are explained in the following links.

"What is a Metaphor?"

"What is a Simile?"

"What is Metonymy?"

"What is a Synecdoche?"

"What is a Vehicle and a Tenor?"

A good type of story to explore these different kinds of figurative language is an allegory, in which two stories--a literal story and a figurative story--are superimposed upon one another. Consider the story "Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, which contains all four of these terms.

Writing Prompt: Identify at least one metaphor, simile, synecdoche, and metonym in Hawthorne's story. When you have finished making these assignments, identify the vehicle and tenor of each example of figurative language. Finally, write a brief explanation of how these vehicles and tenors work together (or, perhaps, against one another) to enable allegorical meanings to emerge in this story.

Interested in more video lessons? View the full series:

The oregon state guide to english literary terms, contact info.

Email: [email protected]

College of Liberal Arts Student Services 214 Bexell Hall 541-737-0561

Deans Office 200 Bexell Hall 541-737-4582

Corvallis, OR 97331-8600

liberalartsosu liberalartsosu liberalartsosu liberalartsosu CLA LinkedIn

• Dean's Office
• Faculty & Staff Resources
• Research Support
• Featured Stories
• Undergraduate Students
• Transfer Students
• Graduate Students
• Career Services
• Internships
• Financial Aid
• Honors Student Profiles
• Degrees and Programs
• Centers and Initiatives
• School of Communication
• School of History, Philosophy and Religion
• School of Language, Culture and Society
• School of Psychological Science
• School of Public Policy
• School of Visual, Performing and Design Arts
• School of Writing, Literature and Film
• Give to CLA

figurative language

What is figurative language definition, usage, and literary examples, figurative language definition.

Figurative language  (fih-gyur-EH-tiv LANE-gwidge) refers to words, phrases, and sentences that go beyond their literal meaning to add layers of interpretation to the audience’s understanding. Instead of relying solely on the dictionary definition of words, figurative language adds nuance,  context ,  imagery , association, and other heightened effects to written or spoken phrasing.

The word  figurative  first appeared in English in the late 14th century and derived from the Old French  figuratif , which means “metaphorical.” The Old French originates in the Latin  figurare , which means “to form, shape.” These elements of  metaphor  and forming or shaping still resonate in the term  figurative language  as it is used today. The connection of  figurative  with speech and language also appeared in English in the late 14th century and indicated “allegorical, metaphoric, involving figures of speech,” which is still how the term is used.

Figurative Language and Figures of Speech

Figurative language can broadly be defined as language that employs  figures of speech . Figures of speech are rhetorical devices that either play with the arrangement of words or with the meaning of words. All figures of speech fall into one of two categories: schemes and tropes.

Schemes play with the mechanics of language and often involve shifts in the arrangement, order, or patterns of words and phrases. This can be achieved through repetition of letters, words, or phrases; the equal balancing of phrases or sentences through identical grammatical structures; shifting the expected order of words or phrases; and/or omitting expected words or punctuation. Some commonly employed schemes are  alliteration , assonance, chiasmus, consonance, and parallelism.

Tropes create meaning beyond words’ literal definitions. They deviate from expected meanings to add greater complexity using association, comparison, and word play. Some common tropes include  hyperbole ,  metaphor , metonymy, personification,  simile , and synecdoche.

Types of Figurative Language

There are many ways to produce figurative language. Some of the most common, many of which also qualify as figures of speech, include:

• Alliteration

This is the repetition of the same sound in a short sequence of words, which creates musical effects in writing. Examples of alliteration occur in brand names, such as Kit Kat, Rolls Royce, Best Buy, and American Apparel, and children’s tongue twisters, such as “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.”

This occurs when a text references an external text, person, place, or event. Describing a curmudgeonly old skinflint as a “Scrooge” alludes to Charles Dickens’s novella  A Christmas Carol .  Similarly, the 1960s pop song “White Rabbit” alludes to Lewis Carroll’s  Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland .

This type of phrasing involves intentionally extravagant exaggeration to heighten the emotional effect of what is being said. “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse” is an example of hyperbole, as the speaker is conveying they are incredibly hungry, though they could not literally consume an entire horse. Likewise, saying “I’m dying of exhaustion” is generally a hyperbolic statement, as people rarely pass away from fatigue.

This figure of speech is an explicit comparison between two different things, used for poetic or dramatic effect. Perhaps the most famous metaphor in English literature comes from  William Shakespeare ’s  As You Like It , when the character Jacques compares life to a theater performance:

All the world’s a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;

They have their exits and their entrances,

And one man in his time plays many parts

Metaphors are frequently encountered in literature, particularly in  poetry , but they are also utilized in everyday speech. Saying “She’s my rock” to describe a romantic partner or calling someone’s room is “a pig sty” are both prevalent examples.

This occurs when the name of something is replaced with a strongly associated thing. For example, when people say “The White House stayed silent on this matter as events unfolded,” they are referring to the people who work in the White House (such as the president); they don’t mean the building itself. This is an example of metonymy. The phrase “The pen is mightier than the sword” includes two examples of metonymy: “pen” refers to the power of written words or diplomacy, and “sword” refers to the use of military force.

• Onomatopoeia

Using words that evoke the sound of the thing they signify is onomatopoeia. For example, the “tick tock” of a clock is an example of onomatopoeia, as is the “splash” of a frog jumping into a pond of water, the “ding dong” of someone ringing a doorbell, or the “boom” made by fireworks, thunder, and bombs.

This device pairs contradictory words or ideas to express a new or more complex meaning. They are frequently seen in casual speech and commercial advertisements. For example, the descriptive phrase “fresh frozen” is oxymoronic. These are often seen in literature. In Shakespeare’s  Romeo and Juliet , Juliet tells Romeo that parting from him is “such sweet sorrow.” This oxymoron describes the bittersweet joy of saying goodbye to someone you love.

Parallelism

Conceptually similar to alliteration, parallelism involves the repetition of sentence structure for balance and emphasis. Although this often involves repeating the exact same words, to count as parallelism, only the repetition of grammatically similar elements is necessary.

A list with the grammatical structure of “First buy X, then buy Y, then purchase Z” would be an example of parallelism, as would the phrase “A penny saved is a penny earned.” Parallelism is frequently encountered in speeches and was an intrinsic part of Hebrew and Middle Eastern poetry, as well as the Old and New Testaments of the  Bible .

Personification

Giving a quality of greater animation to an inanimate or less animate object or element is personification. People often assume this is limited to something being described as if it is a person, but often, personification simply involves describing something in a way that ascribes greater liveliness to it.

In John Donne’s poem “ Holy Sonnet X ,” he personifies the concept of death: “Death, be not proud.” By ascribing the attribute of pride to death, even though it is something only people can feel, Donne utilizes personification. In the poem “ The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock ,” when T.S. Eliot writes “The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes, / The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes,” this is also personification. Describing the fog as if it is a cat gives it greater qualities of animation than fog actually possesses, though the animation is not specific to human attributes.

A pun relies on multiple meanings of a word or homophonic or homographic elements. It can be verbal, as in “Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.” It can also be visual, such as an image depicting a fork lying on a highway—a clear reference to the phrase “a fork in the road.

Related to metaphors, similes are explicit comparisons between disparate things. These comparisons are constructed using the words  like  or  as .

Many similes are familiar phrases: “as cold as ice,” “run like the wind,” “eats like a bird,” “as slow as molasses,” and “as tough as nails.” The famous catchphrase from the movie  Forrest Gump , “Life is like a box of chocolates,” is also a simile.

Similar to metonymy, synecdoche occurs when a thing is referred to by the name of one of its parts. For example, calling an old man “gray beard” is an example of synecdoche since an old man’s gray beard is a part of the man. Referring to businesspeople as “suits” is another example, as suits are part of the person in the sense that business professionals wear suits.

Frequently, synecdoche and metonymy are confused. The best way to remember the difference is that synecdoche swaps in a part to refer to the whole, while metonymy uses a related term that is not an actual part of the thing being referred to.

Figurative Language and Imagery

People often use the term  imagery  interchangeably with  figurative language , but these concepts are not the same.

Imagery is a literary device that allows the author to create pictures in readers’ minds so they can better imagine the situation, characters, emotions, and  settings  of the  narrative . Imagery can be created using literal or figurative language.

If an author is creating literal imagery, also called descriptive imagery, they describe things exactly as they are. Writers tend to use adjectives to create literal/descriptive imagery. For example, they might describe a maple tree in autumn by saying, “The tall maple tree was covered in bright red leaves.” Here, the image is created through adjectives that accurately describe the tree without embellishment.

The same tree could be described using figurative language: “The maple tree soared tall as a skyscraper and was covered with leaves as bright red as lipstick kisses.” This second image uses similes to create an image that conveys the same idea as the literal example, but it does so in a way that is more poetic.

Literal/descriptive imagery and figurative imagery are both important tools for writers to make their work feels vivid. Figurative imagery is used in poetry more than in other literary forms, as it is particularly open to figurative language’s symbolic and associative meanings. However, both types of imagery are used in all forms of literature.

Linguistic Semantics and Figurative Language

Linguistic semantics are the study of interpretation of signifiers (signs, words, symbols, phrases) and what they really mean, particularly as used by specific communities, circumstances, and contexts. Figurative language relies on associations, comparisons, and other schemes and tropes to create additional levels of meaning for words beyond the literal.

Linguists originally believed in the standard pragmatic model of comprehension, which suggested that, when exposed to figurative language, people would first attempt to comprehend it as literal and then shift to a figurative interpretation to understand the meaning. Since the 1980s, however, research has shown that figurative language is comprehended at the same speed as literal meaning.

Figurative Language in Pop Culture

Figurative language is an intrinsic part of pop culture. Song lyrics regularly utilize tropes and schemes like metaphor, similes, and alliteration. For example:

• In Frank Ocean’s song “Thinking Bout You,” he sings, “A tornado flew around my room before you came,” which is a  metaphor  for how wild, scary, and confusing his life was before he met this person.
• In Jay Z’s “Big Pimpin’,” he raps, “I’ll be forever mackin’ / heart cold as assassins.” In this  couplet , he uses a  simile  to assert that he will never fall in love because he is as unemotional as a hired killer.
• In the classic 1980s song “Careless Whisper,” George Michael sings “Guilty feet have got no rhythm.” This is an example of personification because feet cannot feel emotions like guilt. It is also a synecdoche because a part—the feet—stands in for the whole—the song’s narrator. This helps convey that the narrator is the one who feels guilty.

Examples of Figurative Language in Literature

1. Emily Dickinson, “ Because I could not stop for Death ”

In the first  stanza  of her  poem , Dickinson writes:

Because I could not stop for Death—

He kindly stopped for me—

The Carriage held but just Ourselves—

And Immortality.

Throughout the poem, Dickinson personifies death as a person who picks her up in his carriage to go for a scenic drive.

2. F. Scott Fitzgerald,   The Great Gatsby

In the final  sentence  of his classic novel, Fitzgerald’s narrator, Nick, describes humanity:

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

Nick is using a metaphor. He compares people, particularly Jay Gatsby, to boats that want to move forward (into a new future) but are pushed back (into the past) by powerful forces beyond their control.

3. Dante Alighieri,   Inferno

In the first Canto, Dante meets a stranger at the foot of a mountain. After the stranger discloses that he was a poet who sang about the son of Anchises who left Troy when it burned, Dante asks:

Now, art thou that Virgilius…

Thou art my master, and my author thou,

Thou art alone the one from whom I took

The beautiful style that has done honor to me

The astute reader recognizes that Dante has made the Latin poet Virgil (author of the  Aeneid ) a main character in his poem, which is an  allusion .

4. Charles Dickens,   A Tale of Two Cities

Dickens begins his classic novel with a litany:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of

wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it

was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the

season of Darkness…

The recurrent use of the grammatical structure of “it was the….” is an example of parallelism. This repetition gives Dickens’ opening paragraph balance and emphasis, thus drawing the reader in.

5. Toni Morrison,  Jazz

The first line of Morrison’s novel contains  onomatopoeia :

Sth, I know that woman.

The first word is the onomatopoeic sound of a woman sucking her teeth in disdain as she begins to share information about a character she finds unsavory.

Further Resources on Figurative Language

The University of Colorado at Boulder’s Department of Linguistics published an interesting study about “ meaning ” in figurative language.

This video provides examples of figurative language used in various  movies .

The Writing Cooperative published some  tips  on how to use figurative language to describe setting.

Related Terms

• Figure of Speech

• Features for Creative Writers
• Features for Work
• Features for Higher Education
• Features for Teachers
• Features for Non-Native Speakers
• Learn Blog Grammar Guide Community Events FAQ
• Grammar Guide

Figurative Language: Why and How You Should Use It

Zara Altair

Color Your Writing with Figurative Language

22 examples of figurative language, use figurative language wisely by avoiding clichés, figurative language is the spice of writing.

Figurative language means using literary devices, techniques, and figures of speech to heighten sensory response and add meaning, clarity, or impact to your writing.

Figures of speech color your prose, giving a sense of immediacy to readers. They evoke a strong emotional reaction.

Just like a figure in a drawing, figurative language creates an image in your reader’s mind. Figurative language calls on the reader’s senses through sounds, scents, tastes, images, and touch to make an idea accessible.

You probably use figurative language in your everyday speech without thinking twice about it. Here are some examples:

It’s a million degrees outside today.

Alice is busy as a bee .

His smile was a mile wide .

The chair groaned with his weight.

I can help you with your HTML—it’s a piece of cake .

It’s not really a million degrees outside. Alice isn’t a bee. Configuring code is not cake. But that’s how figurative language works. The images (figures) create an immediate impression.

Figurative language has been around as long as people have been telling stories. Over time, writers have come up with many ways to use figurative language. The world is your oyster (see what I did there?) when it comes to choosing figurative ways to express yourself.

When you want your writing to connect with readers and give them an emotional punch, figurative language can create an immediate response. Perk up your writing using figurative elements.

Here’s an introduction to 22 different ways of how to use figurative language.

A simile compares two things that are unlike each other by using “as” or “like” to establish equivalency. You are saying that the two things are similar.

The imagery is what connects the comparison to the thing you describe. The two things are not related in the world, but the image in the simile describes the state of the item.

Simile examples:

She was like a fish out of water at the prom.

He slept like a dog .

Her eyes sparkled like diamonds .

Figuratively, the man is like a sleeping dog, or the eyes are like diamonds. The figurative language connects the two.

2. Metaphor

A metaphor takes figurative language a step further. There is no comparison; the item described is the image of the metaphor even though it is not literally the object. The figure represents the thing described.

Metaphor examples from everyday speech:

The valley is covered in a blanket of snow.

She has a heart of stone .

He’s the black sheep of the family.

Use metaphors in both prose and poetry to create an emotional connection with your reader.

3. Metonymy

Metonymy means “change of name.” As a literary device, one word is used to replace another closely associated word. Use metonymy to avoid repeating the same word. The representative word allows you to vary expressions or to use a word to express a concept.

Examples of metonymy:

Hollywood : the film industry

Press : journalism and news organizations

Academics : school, college, university, studies

Management : administration, leadership

Metonymy helps keep your writing concise.

4. Synecdoche

A synecdoche uses a part of something to represent the whole. Just like metonymy, it keeps you from overusing a particular word. You’ll expand your reader’s understanding of your topic.

Examples of synecdoche:

Green thumb : a talent for raising plants

Stars and stripes : the American flag

Suit : signifying someone who is in business

5. Personification

Personification attributes human qualities to inanimate objects or the representation of an abstract quality in human form. The best way to understand is to look at some examples.

Examples of personification:

Jim heard the last piece of pie calling his name .

The door protested on its rusty hinges.

The headlights winked as the truck drove through the forest.

Personification makes inanimate objects relatable. It is used in advertising to make a product more approachable. Think of Goldfish crackers: the snack that smiles back .

6. Onomatopoeia

With onomatopoeia, the word itself sounds like the sound you’re describing. Just like a visual figure of speech, the sound of the word makes a vivid connection with the reader.

Examples of onomatopoeia:

The steak sizzled on the fire.

The avalanche boomed across the valley.

The bee and the doorbell buzzed at the same time.

Onomatopoeia is fun figurative language, giving your reader a sensory sizzle and making the scene come alive.

7. Oxymoron

You’ve heard it said that opposites attract. Oxymoron is figurative language that connects two opposite feelings. The words are self-contradicting but build sensory response in your reader by enhancing the concept.

Examples of oxymoron :

Managing the conference was controlled chaos .

One job qualification for our team is serious fun .

After the party, Kendra found the kitchen in a fine mess .

If you want your oxymoron to hit home, choose your own original opposites. Here’s one from Andy Warhol: "I am a deeply superficial person."

8. Hyperbole

Hyperbolic figurative language goes over the top as an exaggeration for the sake of emphasis, humor, or effect. People use hyperbole often in casual speech.

Examples of hyperbole:

If I hear that one more time, I’m going to die .

After that hike, I am so hungry I could eat a horse .

9. Allusion

An allusion is a brief reference to a person, place, thing, event, or literary/poetic work that the writer assumes the reader knows. Poet T. S. Elliot and novelist James Joyce both wrote using allusions.

Examples of allusion:

Aila’s Achilles’ heel is her squeaky voice when presenting.

Following up with the conference attendees was a Herculean effort .

The cottage by the creek was a perfect Eden .

Be careful using allusions. Match them to your audience. Just because you know something doesn’t mean it is general knowledge, or even knowledge specific to your audience.

An idiom is an expression using two or more words to refer to something, but the words mean something other than the literal meaning of the words used in the idiom.

Idiomatic phrases can be national or regional. Sometimes even groups or families create their own internal idiomatic expressions.

Example of idiom:

Kirk: “If we play our cards right , we may be able to find out when those whales are being released.” Spock: “How will playing cards help?”

(Dialogue between characters Captain James T. Kirk and Spock in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home , 1986)

They are not playing cards. Spock, who takes everything literally, doesn’t understand the idiomatic expression.

Be careful when using idioms—they often don’t translate well to non-native speakers (like Spock).

ProWritingAid’s Clichés Report highlights idioms in your writing so you can make sure you’re saying what you really mean.

Some similes and metaphors have become so commonplace that they are now cliché. Use the Clichés Report to find and replace stale words and phrases with fresher ideas.

Ready to freshen up your writing?

11. Imagery

Imagery creates pictures (images) with words. But the imagery is not limited to the visual. Imagery can refer to all five senses and internal emotions.

Examples of touch, taste, and smell imagery:

The rabbit’s fur felt like velvet .

Her lips tasted as sweet as sugar .

The kids rushed inside because the house smelled like chocolate .

Imagery elicits an immediate sensory response in your reader by providing familiar references to help them connect to what you’re saying. Varying the senses you appeal to in your writing makes for a more engaging reader experience.

Use ProWritingAid’s Sensory Report to highlight all of the sensory words in your writing. It will also tell you how many of each type of word you have used so you can make sure you’ve got a good balance.

12. Symbolism

A symbol is something that stands for or suggests something else to evoke additional emotional meaning. A symbol can be a word, object, action, character, or concept. Literary novels often use symbolism to express a theme, like a river representing life.

Examples of symbolism:

Green traffic light: symbolizes “go”

Dollar sign: symbolizes money, wealth, earnings

Shopping cart icon: symbolizes online purchase

You can use anything to symbolize a concept in writing. Just make sure the symbol is one your audience understands.

13. Consonance

Consonance uses consonants in quick repetition. They can appear anywhere in the word—beginning, middle, or end. Consonance not only brings attention to the phrase but makes it easy to remember.

Examples of consonance:

Fuddy duddy

Jay-Z uses consonance in “Brooklyn’s Finest,” combining the similar sounds of S and Z.

Peep the style and the way the cops sweat us The number one question is, can the Feds get us?

Consonance intensifies the language, building an emotional connection with the reader.

14. Alliteration

Alliteration is the use of consonant sounds at the beginning of words close together in a sentence to evoke sensory feelings related to the sound. For example, P and hard C represent excitement, while S represents softness. It isn’t based on the letter but on the sound of the consonant.

Examples of alliteration:

Tonka Trucks

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers…

As a subset of consonance, use alliteration to call attention to an important point and/or make your point memorable.

15. Assonance

Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in words close to each other. Unlike alliteration, where the word starts with a consonant at the beginning, the vowel sound can be inside the word.

Examples of assonance:

Stranger danger

Cock of the walk

Eyes on the prize

Once again, it’s the sound that’s important—not the letter used. And assonance works in the same way as alliteration to make your statement memorable or call attention to it.

Irony is a contradictory statement that expresses a reality different from what appears as truth. It points at a different perspective. In literature, it can be an unforeseen event that changes a character’s expectation or some unanticipated behavior different from what was expected.

Verbal irony is an unanticipated response; situational irony is an unexpected outcome.

Irony examples:

Telling a silent group, “don’t everyone speak at once.” (Verbal irony.)

Marriage counsellor divorcing her third husband. (Situational irony.)

Burglarized police station. (Situational irony.)

Irony also works as a plot device.

Hansel and Gretel (oral tradition): the witch burns in her own oven

Oedipus Rex, Sophocles: Oedipus searches for the murderer, who is himself

17. Sarcasm

Sarcasm is an ironic statement intended to mock. You say something different from what you literally mean. Sarcasm can portray the speaker’s true feelings even though it is veiled in humor. In order for sarcasm to work in writing, you must make sure the context is clear, otherwise the reader will misunderstand.

Examples of sarcasm:

I’d agree with you, but then I’d be wrong.

Ask me if I care.

Aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time.

18. Litotes

Litotes is a literary device that states an affirmative without using an affirmative word, usually with negative terms. Often used as understatement or negation to express a contrary meaning.

Examples of litotes:

You’re not wrong.

His decision was not the worst.

Your effort has not gone unnoticed.

A pun is a literary device that plays on the sound of words. The words have identical sounds but the meaning is different. Puns are generally intended to be humorous.

Examples of common puns:

The librarian is a bookkeeper.

I need to spend more thyme in the garden.

“The road to success is always under construction.” (Lily Tomlin)

20. Anaphora

Anaphora is the repetition of a word at the beginning of successive clauses, phrases, or sentences. It is figurative language that's especially effective in speeches. It functions to emphasize words and ideas. Use it to evoke emotion, highlight an idea, and create urgency.

Examples of anaphora:

“ Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.” (Martin Luther King Jr.)

“There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done / Nothing you can sing that can’t be sung / Nothing you can say, but you can learn how to play the game” ( All You Need is Love , Paul McCartney and John Lennon)

You’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t.

21. Tautology

In figurative language, tautology is the use of two words or phrases that say the same thing. Used well, it emphasizes a point.

But, be careful because tautology can also feel wordy. For example, ProWritingAid will signal tautologies as unnecessary words to keep your writing succinct.

Examples of tautology:

The morning sunrise is beautiful.

“With malice toward none , with charity for all , with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right.” (Abraham Lincoln)

She was a dark-haired brunette .

22. Understatement

Understatement intentionally makes a statement less important than it seems or is. It functions as the opposite of hyperbole.

Examples of understatement:

“I have to have this operation. It isn’t very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on the brain.” ( Catcher in the Rye , J. D. Salinger)

It’s not too bad. (When your borrowed jacket is returned with an indelible stain.)

It’s O.K. I guess. (Describing an incredible result.)

Figurative language colors your writing to call attention to a passage. Images, word use, sounds, and wordplay are all ways to spice up your writing whether it’s an article, speech, fiction, or poetry.

Here you have 22 examples as ideas to use when your writing is feeling flat. Match the figurative language to the mood, tone, audience, and intended outcome. You’ll transform the seemingly ordinary into significant writing.

Take your writing to the next level:

20 Editing Tips From Professional Writers

Whether you are writing a novel, essay, article, or email, good writing is an essential part of communicating your ideas., this guide contains the 20 most important writing tips and techniques from a wide range of professional writers..

Be confident about grammar

Check every email, essay, or story for grammar mistakes. Fix them before you press send.

Zara Altair writes traditional mysteries set in ancient Italy under Ostrogoths rule in The Argolicus Mysteries. She teaches mystery screenwriters and novelists at Write A Killer Mystery. She creates semantic web content for a select clientele.

Get started with ProWritingAid

Drop us a line or let's stay in touch via :

Mastering Figurative Language: A Guide to Metaphors, Similes, and Analogies

Words by maribel leddy.

Writing is like cooking a meal; you need a balance of raw ingredients and spices to make it delicious. The proper cooking temperature and time is the editing process. Julienning the vegetables is the crafting of sentences. The recipe is your outline. It all comes together to create a perfect medley of taste in your mouth. 

I’m getting away from myself here with this analogy . The point is that you can use figurative language , words or phrases that have meaning while not being literally true, to elevate your writing. Figurative language includes idioms, hyperbole, and personification as well as figures of speech such as metaphors, similes, and analogies. These three terms all equate two unrelated things for emphasis, but they differ slightly in execution and effect. They also all help with showing, not telling , a topic we covered previously. 

In this blog, we’ll cover what metaphors, similes, and analogies are, how and why to use them, and examples of when they work—and when they don’t. Learning how to employ figurative language is one of the most fruitful and important ways you can begin to master writing, so use this blog as a helpful starting point!

When to Use Figurative Language 

Figurative language helps make stories more interesting. While literal language has its place, such as in legal documents, professional communication, and academic papers, figurative language is essential to creative writing. It also helps bring clarity to complex or abstract ideas by comparing them to simpler or more relatable things. 

Figurative language, and the figures of speech mentioned above, are especially good for writing descriptions. When describing a person, place, or thing, you can give readers a good idea of what it looks, feels, smells, and is like in general by comparing it to something else. 

For example, in Frank Herbert’s iconic space opera Dune , he describes an Arrakeen cavern for the first time: “…silent people all around him moving in the dim light of glow-globes. It was solemn there and like a cathedral as he listened to a faint sound—the drip-drip-drip of water.” This moment takes place on the fifth page of the book and readers have no idea what an Arrakeen cavern is. By comparing it to something familiar but not out of place in the world Herbert has created, readers are able to instantly envision what it might look and feel like, giving them something solid to cling to as they begin to walk further into this world. 

Understanding Metaphors

A metaphor is when the storyteller makes an exact comparison between two unrelated things. For example: “Her hands are magic.” Unlike similes, which we cover in the next section, metaphors do not call to attention the comparison they make. Thus, when used in a story, metaphors often blend in with the rest of the description and the reader may not even realize that the author has made this comparison. 

Metaphors have two parts: 

• A tenor , which is the object or concept being described. 
• A vehicle, which is what the object or concept is compared to. 

In our earlier example, the hands are the tenor and the magic is the vehicle.

Ex: Her hands are magic. 

Metaphors help readers better understand unfamiliar concepts or objects and paint familiar things in a new light. How easily readers can decipher a metaphor depends on the strength of the comparison. A strong metaphor will be surprising but accessible; it says something new without confusing the reader. A weak metaphor is usually a cliché like, “He bit the bullet,” or, “Life is a journey.” You want to avoid clichés as much as possible in your writing as they feel derivative, unimaginative, and unoriginal. 

Types of Metaphors

There are six kinds of metaphors that can be used throughout writing. Here’s a breakdown of each one: 

• Conventional Metaphor 

This kind of metaphor goes unnoticed in everyday speech because the concept of it is so common and accepted in our collective consciousness. This does not necessarily mean that it is a cliché, although it can be one. 

An example of a conventional metaphor would be saying something like, “ I’m a night owl but she’s an early bird.” Most English-speaking Americans will instantly recognize this as meaning that the speaker of the sentence tends to stay up late whereas the “she” they refer to rises early. On the other hand, someone unfamiliar with English or this phrase may wonder why you’re comparing people to birds.

• Creative Metaphor 

Instantly recognizable as unique and original, creative metaphors are meant to be provocative and striking. Poetry very often makes use of creative metaphor. 

In this excerpt from his poem “Dreams,” Langston Hughes compares life to a “barren field frozen with snow.” From this, the reader can infer Hughes’s meaning that when someone no longer has dreams, their life becomes desolate and cold like a barren field. In this way, creative metaphors should always seek to shed light on complex ideas.

• Implied Metaphor 

Implied metaphors make a comparison without explicitly naming the vehicle part of the metaphor. For example, “ She’s got her claws in him,” is a phrase understood to express that someone (in this case, “she”) has a strong emotional or manipulative hold over another person (in this case, “him”). But the comparison of “she” to an animal with claws is implied rather than stated directly, since most people understand this without clarification. If we were to add a vehicle, the metaphor may read more like: “ She’s an animal with her claws in him.” 

• Extended Metaphor 

An extended metaphor, or conceit , is a comparison that is repeated several times throughout a work, usually in new ways. It can extend several lines or sentences or, in the case of many songs and pieces of literature, throughout the entire work. Extended metaphors can also be allegories , wherein the story uses symbols and figurative language to convey a hidden meaning that is typically moral or political. 

“Hope Is the Thing With Feathers” by Emily Dickenson provides us with an extended metaphor:

Here we see how Dickenson compares hope to a bird, personifying it and extending the metaphor throughout the poem not only by referencing hope directly but also through words like “perches” and “little bird.” 

Other examples of extended metaphors appear throughout all kinds of storytelling, but here are a few that stand out: 

• Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech compares the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation and the status of African Americans since then to cashing a bad check. 
• Animal Farm by George Orwall is an allegory that uses farm animals revolting against the humans who run the farm to provide a lesson on authoritarianism, oppression, and tyranny. 
• In Grief Is the Bird by Samantha Jean Coxall, we have a metaphor right from the start: Grief is the bird. The story takes this metaphor to heart and reflects on how a child feels after their father has passed. Read it here .
• “She’ll forgive the grudges she’s borne like Sisyphean boulders,” is a line from the flash fiction piece The Forgiveness Machine by Joy Baglio. This piece uses a machine that can grant forgiveness as a vehicle to study the emotional turmoil of life. 
• Catachresis

Also known as a mixed metaphor , catachresis blends two well-known metaphors or aphorisms in a way that doesn’t make sense. The effect can be to show that a character is confused, frazzled, or perhaps not very bright. 

An example of this would be: 

• “People in glass houses should not wear their hearts on their sleeves.” 

Let’s break down why this is a mixed metaphor and doesn’t make sense. The real sayings are: 

• “People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”
• “Wear your heart on your sleeve.” 

The first means that people with faults should not criticize others for having the same faults. The second means to make your feelings known rather than hiding them. Thus, the inferred meaning of the original mixed metaphor is that people with faults should not hide their feelings. The comparison doesn’t work because the two known phrases lose all meaning—or at least come together in a very confused one. 

Mixed metaphors can sometimes appear accidentally in writing, so make sure that when you’re making comparisons, unless done purposefully for characterization, the metaphor’s meaning is clear.

• Abstract Metaphor 

Finally, we have abstract metaphors, wherein the tenor and vehicle cannot be separated cleanly because the concept being expressed is too large or complex to distill into two distinctly related parts. A popular example of this would be equating light to knowledge or truth, such as when something “brings light to a situation.” By saying that, there is an accepted understanding that light is synonymous with knowledge or truth which, unless learned, is not explicitly obvious. However, the concept of light equalling knowledge or truth is imbued into our general consciousness and so a metaphor implying this can be understood without further clarification.

Exploring Similes

A simile uses “like” or “as” to show that what would be considered the tenor and vehicle in a metaphor are similar but not exactly the same. An example would be: 

• Simile: She’s like a magician. 
• Metaphor: She is a magician.

In this example, a simile would likely be the better option as it’s possible for someone to be a magician without it being a metaphor. In the simile version, it’s obvious that the speaker is not saying that person is actually a magician, but is doing something that makes her like one. 

When To Use Simile vs. Metaphor

Similes compare two similar things using “like” or “as,” whereas metaphors make the assertion that two different things are one and the same, as opposed to being like it. Therefore, metaphors are more direct. When you want a description to feel stronger or more forceful, use a metaphor. Metaphors don’t leave wiggle room. Something is something else even though it’s not. Similes, on the other hand, make it much more obvious that there is a comparison taking place. When you want someone to compare two things but not equate them, use a simile. 

Other Examples of Similes 

Similes appear in many places, and they can also be clichés. When writing similes, lean into creativity and specificity. 

• Cliché: Her tears fell like rain. 
• Original: A single tear skittered down her cheek like a droplet of rain on a car window. 
• Cliché: They were as different as night and day. 
• Original: They were as different as whiskey and wine; both alcoholic, but one went down easier.

Practice some on your own! Look up some cliché similes and metaphors and try your hand at coming up with more creative versions. In your own writing, remember that any metaphors or similes you use should also make sense in the context of the story. For example, if your story takes place in a bakery, using figures of speech related to baking, sweets, or cooking might make a lot of sense thematically.

Unraveling Analogies

An analogy extends a comparison by adding context, often by using a third element that two things share. For example: 

• Metaphor: Her hands are magic. 
• Analogy: She’s as crafty as a magician, always pulling solutions out of thin air. 

To construct an analogy, think about what makes two things similar and ask yourself why you’re comparing them to begin with. If you can’t come up with anything, it might not be a sound analogy and you should think of something else. Let’s examine a few examples of analogies from literature to better understand how to construct them: 

• Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare: In this analogy, Juliet compares Romeo to a rose by acknowledging that his name—and thus the feud between their families—really means nothing because he would be just as sweet, and she would like him just as much, were he called any other name. Romeo is the tenor, the rose is the vehicle, and the comparison between the two is the sweetness. 
• “Migration Season” by Kelli Russell Agodon : In this poem, Agodon compares the families of patients to “snow geese in a flooded field.” She extends the metaphor made in the first three lines of the poem throughout it, providing the reader with an understanding of what it feels like to live that experience.  Read it here!
• Meditations by Marcus Aurelius : This series of personal musings from the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius has a lot of wisdom to share—which is one reason why we included it in our Literary Tarot deck ! But the line below in particular provides us with an analogy that compares time to a river. Is it perhaps where we get the idea of a “time stream” from? 
• Macbeth by William Shakespeare : In Act V of this iconic tragedy, Macbeth recognizes and mourns the death of his wife, comparing life to a “walking shadow,” implying the meaning that it has no real purpose. Not only is the speech a perfect example of an analogy, but it also goes HARD. 
• “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost : This poem is both an extended metaphor and an analogy, using spring’s ending to reflect on how fleeting life is. It’s also famously used in S.E. Hinton’s book The Outsiders , which has a storyline that seeks to exemplify the poem and its meaning. 

4 Tips for the Effective Usage of Figurative Language

• Balance figurative language with literal descriptions. While using figurative language will imbue your narrative with beauty and depth, too much of it may result in confusion and clunkiness. The various metaphors, analogies, and similes will run into each other and confuse one another. Make sure every figure of speech is grounded in something literal that the reader can actually envision. 
• Bite the bullet. 
• Turn a blind eye. 
• Give the cold shoulder. 
• Comparing tears and rain. 
• Comparing life to a journey. 
• Laughter is the best medicine. 

There are many more, but in general, if you feel you’ve heard it many times before, avoid it. 

• Experiment with figurative language to enhance your writing. Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box. (A cliché). Let me try that again: Don’t be afraid to melt a box of crayons together and write with a whole new color. Better? This is harder than it looks… 
• That’s why the most important step is to: Practice, practice, practice . Like with the other techniques we’ve covered in our Facts of Fiction series , the only way to get better at using figurative language is to practice doing it. 

Exercise: Practical Application of Figurative Language

Now that you know what metaphors, similes, and analogies are, let’s put them to use! Write a passage describing an activity you know well and do often. For example, maybe you’re a runner. What does it feel like to run? Describe the activity from start to finish, purposefully using as many metaphors, similes, and analogies as you can. While the final piece may feel overwrought with figurative language, it’s a good way to get the creative juices flowing and see what original comparisons you can come up with.

Cast the Spell of Figurative Language

Sprinkle your writing with a little magic with figurative language. When used correctly, figures of speech and other forms of figurative language add depth to descriptions, help readers better visualize scenes, evoke emotions, add symbolism and layers, and make a story feel more memorable and impactful. 

Keep tackling these monthly exercises with us as we continue our journey of becoming better writers! Follow @frictionseries on Instagram to be the first to know when we release new installations in this series. Plus, discover incredible stories in the Unseen issue of F(r)iction — available for purchase now !

Recent Posts

• An Interview with Phoenix Mendoza
• 5 Common Literary Themes and How to Use Them
• EVIL RATS ON NO STAR LIVE
• An Interview with Hart Hanson
• An Interview with Marit Weisenberg
• Contest Winners
• Creative Nonfiction
• Dually Noted
• Facts of Fiction
• Flash Fiction
• Literary Horoscopes
• Read-alongs
• Short Story
• Staff Picks
• Editor's Note
• Uncategorized

Home » Writing » What is figurative language?

Personification

When you assign a human trait to an object, animal, natural element, or abstract thing, that’s personification. This kind of figurative language can be playful or dramatic, depending on whether human emotions are introduced to the description.

• This painting speaks to me.
• The wind howled furiously, rattling all the doors.

Hyperbole relies on exaggeration to make a point, often creating an intentionally ridiculous, absurd, or funny visual. Many writers and speakers also use this type of figurative language to add a sense of urgency or drama.

• That movie tickled my funny bone.
• She is faster than lightning.
• We waited in line forever.

Our everyday speech is full of quirky idioms. You know an idiom when you hear one. This type of figurative language comes in the form of a common expression that does not make sense literally but has a metaphorical meaning that is familiar to native speakers of a language or members of a group. There are at least 25,000 idiomatic expressions in the English language alone!

• That math problem is a piece of cake.
• You don’t have to bite my head off. 

Like visual artists, writers use symbols to add depth and drama to their work or to express a truth in a unique way. A symbol is an object, person, action, event, or situation that has deeper meaning or significance and is used to represent something else entirely.

• Using an image of a rose to represent love or romance.
• Setting a scene in a storm to symbolize something ominous, hostile, or volatile.

Metonymy is a rhetorical device in which a characteristic or symbol is used to represent a larger object, concept, or phenomenon. Again, the phrase won’t make sense literally, but metonymy can make the description more compelling or concise.

• Give that man a hand with his suitcase.
• Hollywood is focused on launching the next big movie star.

A figure of speech that combines contradictory words to illustrate a point or problem is an oxymoron. These expressions seem to defy logic by setting opposite descriptions side by side, but they can add wit or humor to everyday conversations and stories.

• He got himself into a fine mess.
• The first item on the menu was jumbo shrimp.

Onomatopoeia

This is one type of figurative language that uses sound for emphasis. Onomatopoeia is the creation of a word based on the sound associated with it. Think superhero action words (pow, boom, crack) and animal noises.

• After the snake hissed, the duck responded with a quack.
• We heard the neighbor’s engine vroom.

A pun is a clever play on words, using a phrase that has a double meaning. Puns usually involve homonyms (words that have the same spelling and pronunciation but different meanings, like tree bark and dog bark) or homophones (words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings, like bear and bare).

• The carpenter demonstrated different tools in order to hammer home his point.

Once you’ve polished up the figurative language in your own stories or poems, turn your creative writing into a bookstore-quality book with Blurb. You only need 24 pages to print a trade book !

This is a unique website which will require a more modern browser to work! Please upgrade today!

This is a modern website which will require Javascript to work.

Please turn it on!

Table of Contents

Ai, ethics & human agency, collaboration, information literacy, writing process, figurative language.

Figurative language refers to the use of words in nonliteral ways . For instance, writers, speakers, knowledge workers . . . use f igurative language to help people imagine something new. Metaphor can be a way to connect established ideas, known information , with new ideas, new information . Figurative language is the language of poetry and the arts. Learn to use figurative language to create vivid images in your reader’s mind that will not only give your writing a more distinctive style and make it more enjoyable to read but will also help make your argument more convincing. Learn to identify figurative language in your writing and the writing of others.

What is Figurative Language?

I t’s

• Personification & Metaphor Examples : “Your government is working night and day to repel this virus, and we will succeed, just as this country has seen off every alien invader for the last thousand years” (Boris Johnson)
• to make their compositions more engaging and clearer .
• to project an appropriate voice , tone , persona
• an attribute of prose, a style of writing, that is common among poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers.

Types of Figurative Language

Personification.

Related Concepts:  Concrete, Sensory Writing ;  Description ;  Code Switching ;  Figurative Language ;  Given to New Contract ;  Register ;  Vague Language ;  Writer-Based Prose Style

What Does Figurative Language Matter?

“All the world’s a stage” —have you ever wondered why people remember and quote lines from Shakespeare so much?

One of the reasons is because he used figurative language very effectively in his writings .

You may have heard the term figurative language before, and perhaps when you heard it you were in a class analyzing novels or poetry. But it’s not just used in literature: you can employ it in your academic and workplace writing to great effect.

Figurative language adds color to your writing by taking your words and applying them to other, often unexpected, objects or concepts.

Writers, speakers, knowledge workers . . . use figurative language to make a text more clear , engaging, interesting, evocative. Because figurative language is more dramatic and visual than concrete, sensory language , it enables you to better arrest your reader’s attention and perhaps cause him/her/they to pause and think more about your assertions. 

When interpreting texts, metaphors , similes , and personification can help you better understand complex and abstract ideas because you are attaching these abstract ideas to an image or human role and in that way making it more concrete and understandable.

Figurative language can also just make your writing more pleasurable to read and consequently more likely to gain your reader’s thoughtful consideration.  We all like to be entertained, even in just little ways, and are more likely to pay attention to things that seek to interest us.

Figurative Language, Clarity & Readability

• Engage in rhetorical analysis . Practice rhetorical reasoning to ensure that the use of figurative language is appropriate for your rhetorical context . Some genres—especially genres of poetry and fiction—rely extensively whereas other genres reject the use of figurative language or call for sparase use figurative language. Thus, as always, you need to engage in rhetorical analysis in order to determine whether or not it’s appropriate to use figurative language.
• Make your metaphors and similes understandable (you want to interest and intrigue your reader!)
• Stay away from clichéd comparisons (what’s the point of using figurative language if you’re just going to recycle the same tired metaphors?)
• Avoid using too much figurative language (a little goes a long way).
• Figurative language can be used in any part of your text . 

Recommended Resources

Plain Language: Beyond a Movement .

Related Articles:

Suggested edits.

• Please select the purpose of your message. * - Corrections, Typos, or Edits Technical Support/Problems using the site Advertising with Writing Commons Copyright Issues I am contacting you about something else
• Your full name
• Your email address *
• Page URL needing edits *
• Name This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Featured Articles

Academic Writing – How to Write for the Academic Community

Professional Writing – How to Write for the Professional World

Credibility & Authority – How to Be Credible & Authoritative in Speech & Writing

What is figurative language?

Figurative language refers to words or phrases that are meaningful, but not literally true. If you say “that news hit me like a ton of bricks,” you are using figurative language; listeners understand the news you got was deeply moving, and also know that you were not actually hit by 2000 pounds of bricks (because if you had been you would be dead). Similarly, if you say “he begged me to reconsider, but I had a heart of stone, and I refused,” you are also using figurative language; listeners understand that you are describing yourself as inflexible or unforgiving, and know that your heart is not actually made of stone (because if it were you would be dead).

This fellow is literally swimming in money

There are many ways to use figurative language. Here are some of the more common types, and examples of their use.

An idiom is an expression that cannot be understood from the meanings of its separate words but that has a separate meaning of its own. Many (although not all) idioms are examples of figurative language.

“ Hold your horses ,” the teacher told the students as they were leaving school. (The teacher told the student to slow down, and did not mean that they should pick up their four-legged animals) He was up in the air about whether to go to the concert. (He was undecided, and was not suspended above the ground) The dog ate the muffins in a flash . (The dog ate the muffins quickly, and there was no sudden burst of light) The senator was renowned for throwing his colleagues under the bus in election season. (He was known for blaming others in order to gain an advantage, and was not actually pushing anyone under a moving vehicle)

Metaphors and similes are another category of figurative language use. A metaphor substitutes a word or phrase with one that makes an analogy or explanation with an image.

My desk had a mountain of paperwork on it. (There was no actual mountain, just a large amount of paper) My aunt is a walking encyclopedia , and everyone wanted her on their team on game night. (The aunt is a person with considerable knowledge, but is not actually a multi-volume set of books with legs) He sat quietly, letting her words  soak in . (This person is taking in information, but they are not actually soaking wet while doing so)

A simile is a phrase that uses the words  like  or  as  to describe someone or something by comparing it with someone or something else that is similar.

Fast as lightning , I picked up the paper and read it. (The paper was picked up very quickly; if the person picking it up had been as fast as lightning the paper would had been damaged) Traffic is moving as slow as molasses . (Traffic is moving very slowly, as molasses often does when one tries to pour it out) I am so tired I will sleep like a baby . (Saying you will sleep like a baby means you will sleep deeply, but we don’t know if that is how a baby will sleep; some babies sleep well, and others sleep poorly)

Figurative use of language also takes the form of extreme exaggeration, or hyperbole . This very often expresses an impossibility or near impossibility:

She literally was swimming in money. (The person described did not actually swim through a pool of currency, but merely had a lot of money) Tickets sold out at light speed. (The tickets sold very quickly; they did not move at 299,792,458 meters per second) The show went on forever. (The show lasted for a very long time)

Personification

Finally, if we give our words qualities or abilities that people have but that the things we are describing can’t logically possess, the result is a different kind of figurative language called personification .

We saw lights dance in the distance. (The lights are twinkling, but are not actually performing a waltz) The wind was howling all night. (The wind was making a noise, but was not using its vocal cords to cry out in grief) The words jumped off the page. (The words made a strong and immediate impression on the reader, but they remained in place on the page on which they had been printed)

In some cases it can be very simple to distinguish one type of figurative language from another: if you say ‘my love is like a flower’ you are using a simile, and if you say ‘my love is a flower’ you are using a metaphor. In other cases, however, you may not be able to easily say whether an example of figurative language is an idiom, hyperbole, or a metaphor (and it may be a combination of some or all of these things).

Using figurative language allows a writer to be both playful and to communicate information effectively to readers. It provides tools for a writer to paint a picture with words (the words are bringing images to the reader’s mind; we do not have groups of letters banding together and wielding paintbrushes and paint).

MORE RHETORICAL DEVICE EXAMPLES

• One-Word Oxymorons
• Pop Song Rhetoric
• New Meanings for Onomatopoeia

Word of the Day

See Definitions and Examples »

Get Word of the Day daily email!

Games & Quizzes

Usage Notes

Prepositions, ending a sentence with, hypercorrections: are you making these 6 common mistakes, a comprehensive guide to forming compounds, can ‘criteria’ ever be singular, singular nonbinary ‘they’: is it ‘they are’ or ‘they is’, grammar & usage, more words you always have to look up, 'fewer' and 'less', 7 pairs of commonly confused words, more commonly misspelled words, commonly misspelled words, great big list of beautiful and useless words, vol. 4, 9 other words for beautiful, why jaywalking is called jaywalking, the words of the week - may 24, flower etymologies for your spring garden.

• Oct 27, 2020

What Is Figurative Language? Definition and Examples

Have you ever felt so hungry you could “eat a horse”? Complained that “it’s raining cats and dogs” out there? Or wisely observed that “all that glitters is not gold”? Then you’ve already used figurative language without knowing or noticing it.

Figures of speech pop up everywhere in literature, poetry books , pop culture, motivational quotes, marketing materials and even in our everyday speech. (“Pop up”—that’s figurative language!) But what is figurative language exactly? How do you recognize it? And what are the most common types you can use?

In short, the definition of figurative language is using a word or phrase beyond its literal definition to achieve a more complex meaning or to strengthen its descriptive effect.

Let’s take a closer look at this creative, non-literal use of language that colors everything that we say, read and write.

What is figurative language?

Figurative language uses figures of speech (such as similes, metaphors and clichés) to suggest new pictures or images, or to create stronger effects. It is particularly useful in getting a specific message or feeling across. For instance, let’s say I’m stuck in the desert with a friend because our car broke down. Rather than saying: “It’s hot outside, isn’t it?”, I’d probably say: “It’s a million degrees outside, what are we going to do?!” Of course, it’s not literally a million degrees outside, but by using figurative language I have better expressed the dread and urgency of the situation we are in.

Figurative language has a fundamental impact on readers. B y creating new connections between concepts, images or objects that have little to no original link, readers discover new insights and see a more vivid or imaginative picture in their heads. Figurative language is also useful in explaining an abstract concept by comparing it to something else that readers can better relate to. It can transform the seemingly ordinary into something significant.

This is why authors of all genres employ figures of speech so abundantly. In literature and poetry, writers often use them to pinpoint an exact feeling or mood they would otherwise fail to express with more conventional wording. Politicians and debaters use figurative language to argue and persuade. Novelists use it to draw readers into the world they’ve created. It’s all good.

10 common types of figurative language

A simile is a figure of speech that compares two things of different kinds, and that is often introduced by using a connecting word such as like or as . Here are some examples of similes:

She was as busy as a bee .

The three-piece suit fit him like a glove .

The zombie’s hands were cold as ice .

A metaphor is the same as a simile, but without the connecting word like or as . In a metaphor, one element directly replaces the other one. Some examples of metaphors include:

She was a busy bee .

His eyes were a deep ocean .

The zombie’s hands were ice .

A cliché is a phrase, expression, or idea that has become so overused that it has lost its original meaning or effect. Clichés can sometimes be seen as irritating and annoying because of their predictability. Here are some classic examples of clichés:

All’s fair in love and war.

Every cloud has a silver lining.

The zombie fell head over heels in love.

Remember a few paragraphs ago when I was stuck in the desert and it was “a million degrees outside?” That’s hyperbolic. Hyperboles are intentional and obvious exaggerations in order to emphasize or evoke strong feelings. They aren’t meant to be taken literally, like these hyperbole examples:

Her smile was a mile wide .

The student’s backpack weighed a ton .

Tommy the zombie was nervous: His dad was going to kill him when he got home.

An idiom is a group of words that, when used in a certain order, have brand new, unique meaning that has nothing to do with the definition of the words taken individually. Idioms are generally used to reveal a universal truth. Whi le something doesn’t literally cost you “an arm and a leg”, the meaning behind the idiom immediately makes sense—because what ‘costs’ more than your own limbs? Here are some examples of useful idioms:

The project was a piece of cake .

He shrugged. “ Better late than never. ”

The expensive meal cost the zombie an arm and a leg .

Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia is my favorite type of figurative language, and not only because it's so fun to say. Onomatopoeia has a simple definition: It’s the formation of a word by imitating the sound the thing it refers to makes or evokes. You can find them in most nursery rhymes.

The cow goes Moo .

Ding dong . Someone was at the door.

Rwwarrrr said the zombie.

Personification

Personification is when human characteristics or qualities are attributed to inanimate objects, animals, or abstract concepts. Some examples of personification:

The wind howled in the night.

The camera loves her.

The chair groaned when the zombie sat down.

An oxymoron associates two seemingly self-contradicting terms to illustrate a point or reveal a paradox. Taken independently, bitter and sweet mean opposite things; however, their association ( bittersweet ) create a distinct, highly evocative meaning. Here are some other examples of oxymorons:

The silence was deafening .

I was busy doing nothing .

That zombie was part of the walking dead .

A euphemism is when a polite or mild word or expression is used in place of something more unpleasant, distributing, or taboo. In this regard, it functions as the opposite of hyperbole. The most common example of a euphemism is saying someone ‘passed away’ rather than ‘died’. Here are some others:

The English major was between jobs .

He asked if she wanted to “ Netflix and chill ”.

The zombie’s girlfriend was about to bite the big one .

An allusion is a device that makes the reader think of another person, place, event, or thing. Allusions can be both explicit or implied in the narrative. Some of the most common sources of allusions come from the Bible and Greek mythology.

She picked up the trash like a Good Samaritan .

He was a regular Einstein .

The zombie couldn’t stop eating human brains; they were his Achilles’ heel .

Famous examples of figurative language from literature

Example 1: “Parting is such sweet sorrow”— William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

If you want to find examples of figurative language, look no further than Shakespeare. Can you guess what literary device he’s using in this famous quote from Romeo and Juliet ? If you guessed oxymoron, you’re correct! The words sweet and sorrow evoke opposite ideas of happiness and pain. However, when Shakespeare combines them, it shows how the lovers are sad at having to leave one another, but also excited and joyful at the prospect of anticipating their next reunion.

Example 2: “Hope is a thing with feathers”— Emily Dickinson, “Hope is a thing with feathers”

In this famous poem, Emily Dickinson uses an extended metaphor to articulate a profound human emotio n. She describes the abstract concept of hope to the reader by comparing it to something very tangible and visceral: a bird with feathers that perches on branches. As readers, we can better understand the complex once it’s compared to something known.

Example 3: “Beep, beep!”— The Road Runner, Looney Tunes cartoons

Though maybe not quite literary, let’s end on a fun example. Poor Wile E. Coyote knows and fears the “ beep beep ” or “ meep meep” onomatopoeia of his archenemy the Road Runner in the Looney Tunes cartoon series . The “ beep beep ” is reminiscent of a car horn and signals to the coyote that danger is around the corner. Cartoons and comics traditionally use onomatopoeia to illustrate sounds to readers, whether it’s a loud Ka-Pow ! after Superman lands a good punch, or the Klang ! of an anvil over Tom Cat’s head. Either way … we feel it.

Using figurative language in your writing

Figurative language makes speech fun. It allows us to go beyond the literal and offers us a range of tools to express, describe, and emote. It’s used in everything from nursery rhymes—with a moo moo here—to Shakespearean soliloquies, to excuses for not going into work (after all, your head is killing you). Understanding the different types of figurative language and when to use them is important, but in the end it’s all about what you want to say. Go ahead. The world is your oyster … Pardon the cliché.

Looking to start a blog ? Wix has got your covered with thousands of design features, built-in SEO and marketing tools, that will allow you to scale your content, your brand and your business with their blog maker.

Marika Hirsch, Knowledge Base Writer at Wix

American expat living in Ireland. Loves creative writing and carbs. Will ask to pet your dog.

• Grammar & Style

Recent Posts

“Alumnus”, “Alumni”, “Alumna”, “Alumnae”: What's the Difference?

Can You Start a Sentence with “Because”? Well, It Depends

What Is a Metaphor? Definition and Examples

• Search Menu

Sign in through your institution

• Browse content in Arts and Humanities
• Browse content in Archaeology
• Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Archaeology
• Archaeological Methodology and Techniques
• Archaeology by Region
• Archaeology of Religion
• Archaeology of Trade and Exchange
• Biblical Archaeology
• Contemporary and Public Archaeology
• Environmental Archaeology
• Historical Archaeology
• History and Theory of Archaeology
• Industrial Archaeology
• Landscape Archaeology
• Mortuary Archaeology
• Prehistoric Archaeology
• Underwater Archaeology
• Urban Archaeology
• Zooarchaeology
• Browse content in Architecture
• Architectural Structure and Design
• History of Architecture
• Residential and Domestic Buildings
• Theory of Architecture
• Browse content in Art
• Art Subjects and Themes
• History of Art
• Industrial and Commercial Art
• Theory of Art
• Biographical Studies
• Byzantine Studies
• Browse content in Classical Studies
• Classical Literature
• Classical Reception
• Classical History
• Classical Philosophy
• Classical Mythology
• Classical Art and Architecture
• Classical Oratory and Rhetoric
• Greek and Roman Archaeology
• Greek and Roman Epigraphy
• Greek and Roman Law
• Greek and Roman Papyrology
• Late Antiquity
• Religion in the Ancient World
• Digital Humanities
• Browse content in History
• Colonialism and Imperialism
• Diplomatic History
• Environmental History
• Genealogy, Heraldry, Names, and Honours
• Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing
• Historical Geography
• History by Period
• History of Agriculture
• History of Education
• History of Emotions
• History of Gender and Sexuality
• Industrial History
• Intellectual History
• International History
• Labour History
• Legal and Constitutional History
• Local and Family History
• Maritime History
• Military History
• National Liberation and Post-Colonialism
• Oral History
• Political History
• Public History
• Regional and National History
• Revolutions and Rebellions
• Slavery and Abolition of Slavery
• Social and Cultural History
• Theory, Methods, and Historiography
• Urban History
• World History
• Browse content in Language Teaching and Learning
• Language Learning (Specific Skills)
• Language Teaching Theory and Methods
• Browse content in Linguistics
• Applied Linguistics
• Cognitive Linguistics
• Computational Linguistics
• Forensic Linguistics
• Grammar, Syntax and Morphology
• Historical and Diachronic Linguistics
• History of English
• Language Variation
• Language Families
• Language Acquisition
• Language Evolution
• Language Reference
• Lexicography
• Linguistic Theories
• Linguistic Typology
• Linguistic Anthropology
• Phonetics and Phonology
• Psycholinguistics
• Sociolinguistics
• Translation and Interpretation
• Writing Systems
• Browse content in Literature
• Bibliography
• Children's Literature Studies
• Literary Studies (Modernism)
• Literary Studies (Asian)
• Literary Studies (European)
• Literary Studies (Eco-criticism)
• Literary Studies (Romanticism)
• Literary Studies (American)
• Literary Studies - World
• Literary Studies (1500 to 1800)
• Literary Studies (19th Century)
• Literary Studies (20th Century onwards)
• Literary Studies (African American Literature)
• Literary Studies (British and Irish)
• Literary Studies (Early and Medieval)
• Literary Studies (Fiction, Novelists, and Prose Writers)
• Literary Studies (Gender Studies)
• Literary Studies (Graphic Novels)
• Literary Studies (History of the Book)
• Literary Studies (Plays and Playwrights)
• Literary Studies (Poetry and Poets)
• Literary Studies (Postcolonial Literature)
• Literary Studies (Queer Studies)
• Literary Studies (Science Fiction)
• Literary Studies (Travel Literature)
• Literary Studies (War Literature)
• Literary Studies (Women's Writing)
• Literary Theory and Cultural Studies
• Mythology and Folklore
• Shakespeare Studies and Criticism
• Browse content in Media Studies
• Browse content in Music
• Applied Music
• Dance and Music
• Ethics in Music
• Ethnomusicology
• Gender and Sexuality in Music
• Medicine and Music
• Music Cultures
• Music and Culture
• Music and Religion
• Music and Media
• Music Education and Pedagogy
• Music Theory and Analysis
• Musical Scores, Lyrics, and Libretti
• Musical Structures, Styles, and Techniques
• Musicology and Music History
• Performance Practice and Studies
• Race and Ethnicity in Music
• Sound Studies
• Browse content in Performing Arts
• Browse content in Philosophy
• Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art
• Epistemology
• Feminist Philosophy
• History of Western Philosophy
• Metaphysics
• Moral Philosophy
• Non-Western Philosophy
• Philosophy of Action
• Philosophy of Law
• Philosophy of Religion
• Philosophy of Science
• Philosophy of Language
• Philosophy of Mind
• Philosophy of Perception
• Philosophy of Mathematics and Logic
• Practical Ethics
• Social and Political Philosophy
• Browse content in Religion
• Biblical Studies
• Christianity
• East Asian Religions
• History of Religion
• Judaism and Jewish Studies
• Qumran Studies
• Religion and Education
• Religion and Health
• Religion and Politics
• Religion and Science
• Religion and Law
• Religion and Art, Literature, and Music
• Religious Studies
• Browse content in Society and Culture
• Cookery, Food, and Drink
• Cultural Studies
• Customs and Traditions
• Ethical Issues and Debates
• Hobbies, Games, Arts and Crafts
• Natural world, Country Life, and Pets
• Popular Beliefs and Controversial Knowledge
• Sports and Outdoor Recreation
• Technology and Society
• Travel and Holiday
• Visual Culture
• Browse content in Law
• Arbitration
• Browse content in Company and Commercial Law
• Commercial Law
• Company Law
• Browse content in Comparative Law
• Systems of Law
• Competition Law
• Browse content in Constitutional and Administrative Law
• Government Powers
• Judicial Review
• Local Government Law
• Military and Defence Law
• Parliamentary and Legislative Practice
• Construction Law
• Contract Law
• Browse content in Criminal Law
• Criminal Procedure
• Criminal Evidence Law
• Sentencing and Punishment
• Employment and Labour Law
• Environment and Energy Law
• Browse content in Financial Law
• Banking Law
• Insolvency Law
• History of Law
• Human Rights and Immigration
• Intellectual Property Law
• Browse content in International Law
• Private International Law and Conflict of Laws
• Public International Law
• IT and Communications Law
• Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law
• Law and Society
• Law and Politics
• Browse content in Legal System and Practice
• Courts and Procedure
• Legal Skills and Practice
• Primary Sources of Law
• Regulation of Legal Profession
• Medical and Healthcare Law
• Browse content in Policing
• Criminal Investigation and Detection
• Police and Security Services
• Police Procedure and Law
• Police Regional Planning
• Browse content in Property Law
• Personal Property Law
• Study and Revision
• Terrorism and National Security Law
• Browse content in Trusts Law
• Wills and Probate or Succession
• Browse content in Medicine and Health
• Browse content in Allied Health Professions
• Arts Therapies
• Clinical Science
• Dietetics and Nutrition
• Occupational Therapy
• Operating Department Practice
• Physiotherapy
• Radiography
• Speech and Language Therapy
• Browse content in Anaesthetics
• General Anaesthesia
• Neuroanaesthesia
• Browse content in Clinical Medicine
• Acute Medicine
• Cardiovascular Medicine
• Clinical Genetics
• Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics
• Dermatology
• Endocrinology and Diabetes
• Gastroenterology
• Genito-urinary Medicine
• Geriatric Medicine
• Infectious Diseases
• Medical Oncology
• Medical Toxicology
• Pain Medicine
• Palliative Medicine
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Respiratory Medicine and Pulmonology
• Rheumatology
• Sleep Medicine
• Sports and Exercise Medicine
• Clinical Neuroscience
• Community Medical Services
• Critical Care
• Emergency Medicine
• Forensic Medicine
• Haematology
• History of Medicine
• Medical Ethics
• Browse content in Medical Dentistry
• Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
• Paediatric Dentistry
• Restorative Dentistry and Orthodontics
• Surgical Dentistry
• Browse content in Medical Skills
• Clinical Skills
• Communication Skills
• Nursing Skills
• Surgical Skills
• Medical Statistics and Methodology
• Browse content in Neurology
• Clinical Neurophysiology
• Neuropathology
• Nursing Studies
• Browse content in Obstetrics and Gynaecology
• Gynaecology
• Occupational Medicine
• Ophthalmology
• Otolaryngology (ENT)
• Browse content in Paediatrics
• Neonatology
• Browse content in Pathology
• Chemical Pathology
• Clinical Cytogenetics and Molecular Genetics
• Histopathology
• Medical Microbiology and Virology
• Patient Education and Information
• Browse content in Pharmacology
• Psychopharmacology
• Browse content in Popular Health
• Caring for Others
• Complementary and Alternative Medicine
• Self-help and Personal Development
• Browse content in Preclinical Medicine
• Cell Biology
• Molecular Biology and Genetics
• Reproduction, Growth and Development
• Primary Care
• Professional Development in Medicine
• Browse content in Psychiatry
• Addiction Medicine
• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Forensic Psychiatry
• Learning Disabilities
• Old Age Psychiatry
• Psychotherapy
• Browse content in Public Health and Epidemiology
• Epidemiology
• Public Health
• Browse content in Radiology
• Clinical Radiology
• Interventional Radiology
• Nuclear Medicine
• Radiation Oncology
• Reproductive Medicine
• Browse content in Surgery
• Cardiothoracic Surgery
• Gastro-intestinal and Colorectal Surgery
• General Surgery
• Neurosurgery
• Paediatric Surgery
• Peri-operative Care
• Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• Surgical Oncology
• Transplant Surgery
• Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery
• Vascular Surgery
• Browse content in Science and Mathematics
• Browse content in Biological Sciences
• Aquatic Biology
• Biochemistry
• Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
• Developmental Biology
• Ecology and Conservation
• Evolutionary Biology
• Genetics and Genomics
• Microbiology
• Molecular and Cell Biology
• Natural History
• Plant Sciences and Forestry
• Research Methods in Life Sciences
• Structural Biology
• Systems Biology
• Zoology and Animal Sciences
• Browse content in Chemistry
• Analytical Chemistry
• Computational Chemistry
• Crystallography
• Environmental Chemistry
• Industrial Chemistry
• Inorganic Chemistry
• Materials Chemistry
• Medicinal Chemistry
• Mineralogy and Gems
• Organic Chemistry
• Physical Chemistry
• Polymer Chemistry
• Study and Communication Skills in Chemistry
• Theoretical Chemistry
• Browse content in Computer Science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Computer Architecture and Logic Design
• Game Studies
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Mathematical Theory of Computation
• Programming Languages
• Software Engineering
• Systems Analysis and Design
• Virtual Reality
• Browse content in Computing
• Business Applications
• Computer Games
• Computer Security
• Computer Networking and Communications
• Digital Lifestyle
• Graphical and Digital Media Applications
• Operating Systems
• Browse content in Earth Sciences and Geography
• Atmospheric Sciences
• Environmental Geography
• Geology and the Lithosphere
• Maps and Map-making
• Meteorology and Climatology
• Oceanography and Hydrology
• Palaeontology
• Physical Geography and Topography
• Regional Geography
• Soil Science
• Urban Geography
• Browse content in Engineering and Technology
• Agriculture and Farming
• Biological Engineering
• Civil Engineering, Surveying, and Building
• Electronics and Communications Engineering
• Energy Technology
• Engineering (General)
• Environmental Science, Engineering, and Technology
• History of Engineering and Technology
• Mechanical Engineering and Materials
• Technology of Industrial Chemistry
• Transport Technology and Trades
• Browse content in Environmental Science
• Applied Ecology (Environmental Science)
• Conservation of the Environment (Environmental Science)
• Environmental Sustainability
• Environmentalist Thought and Ideology (Environmental Science)
• Management of Land and Natural Resources (Environmental Science)
• Natural Disasters (Environmental Science)
• Nuclear Issues (Environmental Science)
• Pollution and Threats to the Environment (Environmental Science)
• Social Impact of Environmental Issues (Environmental Science)
• History of Science and Technology
• Browse content in Materials Science
• Ceramics and Glasses
• Composite Materials
• Metals, Alloying, and Corrosion
• Nanotechnology
• Browse content in Mathematics
• Applied Mathematics
• Biomathematics and Statistics
• History of Mathematics
• Mathematical Education
• Mathematical Finance
• Mathematical Analysis
• Numerical and Computational Mathematics
• Probability and Statistics
• Pure Mathematics
• Browse content in Neuroscience
• Cognition and Behavioural Neuroscience
• Development of the Nervous System
• Disorders of the Nervous System
• History of Neuroscience
• Invertebrate Neurobiology
• Molecular and Cellular Systems
• Neuroendocrinology and Autonomic Nervous System
• Neuroscientific Techniques
• Sensory and Motor Systems
• Browse content in Physics
• Astronomy and Astrophysics
• Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
• Biological and Medical Physics
• Classical Mechanics
• Computational Physics
• Condensed Matter Physics
• Electromagnetism, Optics, and Acoustics
• History of Physics
• Mathematical and Statistical Physics
• Measurement Science
• Nuclear Physics
• Particles and Fields
• Plasma Physics
• Quantum Physics
• Relativity and Gravitation
• Semiconductor and Mesoscopic Physics
• Browse content in Psychology
• Affective Sciences
• Clinical Psychology
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology
• Criminal and Forensic Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Evolutionary Psychology
• Health Psychology
• History and Systems in Psychology
• Music Psychology
• Neuropsychology
• Organizational Psychology
• Psychological Assessment and Testing
• Psychology of Human-Technology Interaction
• Psychology Professional Development and Training
• Research Methods in Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Browse content in Social Sciences
• Browse content in Anthropology
• Anthropology of Religion
• Human Evolution
• Medical Anthropology
• Physical Anthropology
• Regional Anthropology
• Social and Cultural Anthropology
• Theory and Practice of Anthropology
• Browse content in Business and Management
• Business History
• Business Strategy
• Business Ethics
• Business and Government
• Business and Technology
• Business and the Environment
• Comparative Management
• Corporate Governance
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Entrepreneurship
• Health Management
• Human Resource Management
• Industrial and Employment Relations
• Industry Studies
• Information and Communication Technologies
• International Business
• Knowledge Management
• Management and Management Techniques
• Operations Management
• Organizational Theory and Behaviour
• Pensions and Pension Management
• Public and Nonprofit Management
• Strategic Management
• Supply Chain Management
• Browse content in Criminology and Criminal Justice
• Criminal Justice
• Criminology
• Forms of Crime
• International and Comparative Criminology
• Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice
• Development Studies
• Browse content in Economics
• Agricultural, Environmental, and Natural Resource Economics
• Asian Economics
• Behavioural Finance
• Behavioural Economics and Neuroeconomics
• Econometrics and Mathematical Economics
• Economic Methodology
• Economic Systems
• Economic History
• Economic Development and Growth
• Financial Markets
• Financial Institutions and Services
• General Economics and Teaching
• Health, Education, and Welfare
• History of Economic Thought
• International Economics
• Labour and Demographic Economics
• Law and Economics
• Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics
• Microeconomics
• Public Economics
• Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics
• Welfare Economics
• Browse content in Education
• Adult Education and Continuous Learning
• Care and Counselling of Students
• Early Childhood and Elementary Education
• Educational Equipment and Technology
• Educational Strategies and Policy
• Higher and Further Education
• Organization and Management of Education
• Philosophy and Theory of Education
• Schools Studies
• Secondary Education
• Teaching of a Specific Subject
• Teaching of Specific Groups and Special Educational Needs
• Teaching Skills and Techniques
• Browse content in Environment
• Applied Ecology (Social Science)
• Climate Change
• Conservation of the Environment (Social Science)
• Environmentalist Thought and Ideology (Social Science)
• Natural Disasters (Environment)
• Social Impact of Environmental Issues (Social Science)
• Browse content in Human Geography
• Cultural Geography
• Economic Geography
• Political Geography
• Browse content in Interdisciplinary Studies
• Communication Studies
• Museums, Libraries, and Information Sciences
• Browse content in Politics
• African Politics
• Asian Politics
• Chinese Politics
• Comparative Politics
• Conflict Politics
• Elections and Electoral Studies
• Environmental Politics
• European Union
• Foreign Policy
• Gender and Politics
• Human Rights and Politics
• Indian Politics
• International Relations
• International Organization (Politics)
• International Political Economy
• Irish Politics
• Latin American Politics
• Middle Eastern Politics
• Political Theory
• Political Methodology
• Political Communication
• Political Philosophy
• Political Sociology
• Political Behaviour
• Political Economy
• Political Institutions
• Politics and Law
• Politics of Development
• Public Administration
• Public Policy
• Quantitative Political Methodology
• Regional Political Studies
• Russian Politics
• Security Studies
• State and Local Government
• UK Politics
• US Politics
• Browse content in Regional and Area Studies
• African Studies
• Asian Studies
• East Asian Studies
• Japanese Studies
• Latin American Studies
• Middle Eastern Studies
• Native American Studies
• Scottish Studies
• Browse content in Research and Information
• Research Methods
• Browse content in Social Work
• Addictions and Substance Misuse
• Adoption and Fostering
• Care of the Elderly
• Child and Adolescent Social Work
• Couple and Family Social Work
• Direct Practice and Clinical Social Work
• Emergency Services
• Human Behaviour and the Social Environment
• International and Global Issues in Social Work
• Mental and Behavioural Health
• Social Justice and Human Rights
• Social Policy and Advocacy
• Social Work and Crime and Justice
• Social Work Macro Practice
• Social Work Practice Settings
• Social Work Research and Evidence-based Practice
• Welfare and Benefit Systems
• Browse content in Sociology
• Childhood Studies
• Community Development
• Comparative and Historical Sociology
• Economic Sociology
• Gender and Sexuality
• Gerontology and Ageing
• Health, Illness, and Medicine
• Marriage and the Family
• Migration Studies
• Occupations, Professions, and Work
• Organizations
• Population and Demography
• Race and Ethnicity
• Social Theory
• Social Movements and Social Change
• Social Research and Statistics
• Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility
• Sociology of Religion
• Sociology of Education
• Sport and Leisure
• Urban and Rural Studies
• Browse content in Warfare and Defence
• Defence Strategy, Planning, and Research
• Land Forces and Warfare
• Military Administration
• Military Life and Institutions
• Naval Forces and Warfare
• Other Warfare and Defence Issues
• Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution
• Weapons and Equipment

• < Previous chapter
• Next chapter >

7 Figurative Language

• Published: June 2015
• Cite Icon Cite
• Permissions Icon Permissions

Chapter 7 presents two theories of figurative language and argues in favor of Sperber and Wilson’s view that figurative language is no different from supposedly non-figurative language as far and the brain’s interpretive mechanisms are concerned. The chapter looks specifically at Wallace Stevens’s poem “The Emperor of Ice Cream” to demonstrate how even a master poet can get tangled up in his own metaphors.

Signed in as

Institutional accounts.

• Google Scholar Indexing
• GoogleCrawler [DO NOT DELETE]

Personal account

• Sign in with email/username & password
• Get email alerts
• Save searches
• Purchase content
• Activate your purchase/trial code
• Add your ORCID iD

Institutional access

Sign in with a library card.

• Sign in with username/password
• Recommend to your librarian
• Institutional account management
• Get help with access

Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:

IP based access

Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.

Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.

• Click Sign in through your institution.
• Select your institution from the list provided, which will take you to your institution's website to sign in.
• When on the institution site, please use the credentials provided by your institution. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.
• Following successful sign in, you will be returned to Oxford Academic.

If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.

Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.

Society Members

Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:

Sign in through society site

Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:

• Click Sign in through society site.
• When on the society site, please use the credentials provided by that society. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.

If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.

Sign in using a personal account

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.

A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.

Viewing your signed in accounts

Click the account icon in the top right to:

• View your signed in personal account and access account management features.
• View the institutional accounts that are providing access.

Signed in but can't access content

Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.

For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.

Our books are available by subscription or purchase to libraries and institutions.

• About Oxford Academic
• Publish journals with us
• University press partners
• What we publish
• New features  
• Open access
• Rights and permissions
• Accessibility
• Advertising
• Media enquiries
• Oxford University Press
• Oxford Languages
• University of Oxford

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide

• Copyright © 2024 Oxford University Press
• Cookie settings
• Cookie policy
• Privacy policy
• Legal notice

This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

Figurative Language and 8 Most Common Uses in Creative Writing

11+ Past Papers Bundle

What is figurative language.

A figurative language is a technique used by creative writers to express a meaning that is other than the literal meaning of the expression in order to imply a different idea or thought.

When someone says it’s a million degrees outside then it does not mean that it is really a million degrees outside. Instead, the writer is trying to convey the idea that it is uncomfortably hot outside. This is an example of figurative language.

Figurative language is used to amplify or exaggerate the writing. In other words, writers use words to create a non-literal meaning to make n important point. It makes writing more impactful.

Examples “After spending a day working in the garage, his face was as black as charcoal.” “Karla’s kids were jumping around like monkeys” “He stood on the stage like a lion”

Why use figurative language?

It is used to better express an idea or to make a point. Some ideas a difficult to communicate as they could be abstract or complex. Figurative language helps readers form mental images of what the author is trying to convey.

8 most common uses of figurative language

Personification, onomatopoeia.

A simile is a figure of speech expressed by comparing one thing with another thing of a different type to better convey a thought. A simile uses the words “like” and “as” to make the comparison.

Example , She went up the stage and stood as brave as a lion.

A metaphor like a simile also makes a comparison with another thing but in a more direct way than a simile.

Example , The snow in our city is a white blanket.

Personification is when you give human-like qualities to something that is non-human, like a thing, object or an animal. In other words, you represent something like a person.

Example , The wind howled at me as I rushed for work in the morning and the trees danced at its command.

Idioms are phrases that provide figurative, non-literal meaning to the writing. They should not be taken literally.

Example , The homework today was a piece of cake . The design of the new website is still up in the air . I had a long day at work and really need to hit the hay now.

An allusion is an indirect reference to something. It does not describe the thing it refers to, instead, expects the reader to have enough knowledge to understand what the allusion is referring to.

Example The boy on the holiday was acting like a Romeo .

Onomatopoeia is a literary device used when you need to mimic a sound. It is a word that looks like the sound it’s trying to express.

Example slam, splash, boom, bam, gurgle, mumble etc

An oxymoron is a figure of speech with words that contradict each other.

Example True lies. Awfully good.

A pun is a way of adding humour in your writing by mixing up words with multiple meanings.

Example I tried to catch some fog. I mist. A soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.

More reading

10 most common literary devices Figurative language & examples Comprehensive list of adjectives for kids

KS1, KS2, SATS & 11+ Practice

Advertisement

Simile Examples in Literature and Everyday Language

• Share Content on Facebook
• Share Content on LinkedIn
• Share Content on Flipboard
• Share Content on Reddit
• Share Content via Email

Similes are like spices for writing : Used in the right proportion, they can add zest and verve to your prose. Once you're familiar with them, you'll likely notice that simile examples abound in everyday speech , writing, song lyrics and even advertising slogans.

Here, we'll take a look at some simile examples, as well as how they differ from other types of figurative language such as metaphors.

What Is a Simile?

13 common simile examples, 5 similes in classic literature, what is the difference between a simile and a metaphor, how to teach similes.

A simile is a type of figurative language that draws a direct comparison between two different things. This figurative language can be used for emphasis, surprise, irony or any number of effects. A simile uses the words "like" or "as" to make an explicit comparison between the two things.

Similes have been used throughout history, both in everyday speech and as literary devices in poetry, novels and plays. Similes can create vivid images in a piece of writing, or they can add color and clarity to conversation.

It's likely that you've heard, or used, the following common examples of similes. They're often found in contemporary American English, although as with all things in speech, they change over time in popularity.

• Busy as a bee : "She's as busy as a bee with her new volunteer position." Our association with bees as "buzzing" with activity, flying from flower to flower — and to and from the hive — makes this simile example work.
• Light as a feather : "The carbon fiber bike feels as light as a feather." Feathers are light enough to float calmly on the breeze, emphasizing how light the bicycle feels.
• Cool as a cucumber : "She was in deep trouble, but she was acting as cool as a cucumber." Cucumbers are served cool, which accentuates the emotional coolness being depicted in the sentence.
• Cold as ice : "When we arrived at the cabin, the interior was as cold as ice." This one is pretty obvious: The interior was cold enough to remind the speaker of ice.
• Proud as a peacock : "That fellow must be as proud as a peacock." The large and vivid feathers displayed by peacocks are often thought of as denoting pride.
• Like watching paint dry : "Sitting through that Zoom meeting was like watching paint dry." The idea here is that paint dries very slowly and, without any perceptible visual interest, is very boring.
• As American as apple pie : "A picnic on the Fourth of July is as American as apple pie." Apple pie, being considered a signature dessert in American culture , symbolizes a deep association with the United States.
• Like cats and dogs : "The siblings fought like cats and dogs over the inheritance." As two species that often don't get along, the notion of them fighting creates a strong descriptive image.
• Like two peas in a pod : "The friends were like two peas in a pod." This simile trades on the fact that peas are placed in pods very close together.
• Blind as a bat : "Without her glasses, she's as blind as a bat." Since many bat species have very poor vision, the simile emphasizes her inability to see without glasses.
• Brave as a lion : "When facing adversity, he is as brave as a lion." Like many popular examples of similes, this simile anthropomorphizes an animal. In this case, the lion is presumed to have bravery, and the person is compared to that animal.
• Strong as an ox : "If you're looking for help moving furniture, Ken is as strong as an ox." In another animal simile example, Ken's strength is being vividly evoked by comparing him to an ox.
• Clean as a whistle : "We took a look at the suspect's record, and they're as clean as a whistle." This example is meant to show that the person's record is spotless, or free of anything negative.

The use of simile as a literary device goes way back in world literature, being found in poetry , drama and prose. The English language has plenty of examples of similes from antiquity to the present day, illustrating just how effective they are at creating a vivid image in the mind of the reader.

1. From the Robert Burns poem 'A Red, Red Rose'

You've probably heard this one before, as it's been repeated to the point of parody (but you might not have realized that the poem is old enough to include spelling from an antiquated Scottish dialect).

Here, the poet compares his love to the newly sprung (or freshly sprouted), bright-red rose of springtime. In the second couplet, the poet relates his love to a sweetly melodic song.

2. From the William Wordsworth poem 'I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud'

Here, both the title of the poem and its first sentence uses the same simile. In this as in other literature examples, the simile uses a mental image to create a mood and illustrate an idea.

3. From the play 'Macbeth'

The works of William Shakespeare have a great many examples of similes and metaphors. In this example, the simile helps illustrate that Macbeth knows the risk he would be taking by following through with his plan to kill King Duncan.

4. From 'Romeo and Juliet'

This example of a Shakespearean simile makes a comparison between love and the painful prick of a thorn, highlighting the emotional pain that can follow when things don't go well.

5. From 'A Christmas Carol'

In this Charles Dickens classic, the comparison between two apparently unlike things makes for a powerful image. In Dickens' day, door-nails , unlike other nails, were bent in such a way that ensured they could not be re-used.

Unlike similes, metaphors do not use the words "like" or "as" to draw a comparison between two or more nouns . Instead, they simply state that one thing is another. Metaphors are therefore a bit harder to spot, but once you get used to it, you'll see they are also very common. In fact, some are simply variations on the simile examples outlined earlier.

• "You've been a busy little bee, haven't you?" In this case, the person being addressed is being directly called a bee, without the use of "like" or "as," marking it as a case of metaphor.
• "I was lucky to have her during those trying times; she was my rock." In this case, the speaker uses the image of rock as steady and solid to convey how they relied on someone else. Once again, there is no "like" or "as" being used. The person is instead being directly characterized as a rock.
• "When it comes to sinking baskets from outside the paint, he's a machine." The speaker is emphasizing impressive reliability and consistency by drawing a comparison to the player and a machine.

Whether working with students, or seeking to improve your own writing, it helps to start by studying other writers. The literature examples above are good to know about, both to inspire your own and to avoid using common similes that are overly familiar.

It can be helpful to go back to a simple simile definition: a part of speech comparing two apparently dissimilar things. Often, it's a person and an animal. What's being drawn out is a particular quality that unites them, such as in "She is as wise as an owl."

The person's wisdom is being compared to that of an owl , an animal classically associated with wisdom (in part, due to its ties to the Greek goddess Athena).

From here, you can get creative and see if you can come up with your own owl simile examples, such as "as silent as an owl in flight" or "as watchful as an owl." This can be a terrific way to get more originality into your writing.

Please copy/paste the following text to properly cite this HowStuffWorks.com article:

What are Tone Words? List of 300+ Useful Words

Table of contents

• 1 What is a Tone?
• 2.1 Positive Tone Words
• 2.2 Negative Tone Words
• 2.3 Neutral Tone Words
• 3 How to Find the Right Tone for Your Work
• 4 Tone Words Examples in Various Texts

In writing, tone plays a significant role in conveying emotions, setting the atmosphere, and establishing a connection with readers. The tone of every piece of writing – whether an argumentative essay, a page-turning novel, or a moving poem – can be set by the author’s choice of words.

It would be best to balance the subtleties of language and freedom of thought to get the desired effect. Today, we share a definitive collection of tone words to help you and every writer achieve their goals in this area.

What is a Tone?

Tone, in writing, is the author’s emotional response with deep respect to either the subject matter or the readers. It helps to create a particular atmosphere and direct the reader’s feelings by revealing the author’s point of view.

The tone is the author’s voice (in this case, their attitude, not their personality), and how the words on the page are emotion-tinted to make the reader feel a specific way.

Word choice, tone list sentence structure, imagery, and figurative language are all examples of literary methods that can be used to communicate tone. It comprises more than just the words themselves.

Also, it includes the author’s general tone and approach. To provoke various feelings and responses from the reader, a talented writer might switch tones within the same piece of writing.

Recognizing and employing tone is fundamental to effective communication because it influences the writer’s attitude and how the recipient interprets the message. It can potentially affect a message’s readability, retention, and recall. When writers use the right tone, they may impress readers, hold their attention, and get their point over.

As they delve further into the nuances of tone and tone words in literature, authors gain access to many expressive vocabularies.

The Ultimate List of Tone Words

Now for our ultimate list of tone words in literature. This comprehensive compilation encompasses a range of words that can help authors like you effectively communicate their intended emotions and engage readers on a profound level. And we are talking about a deep level indeed!

Positive Tone Words

Positive tone words inspire happy thoughts and feelings in the reader. They spark positive emotions and are incredibly powerful. Powerful? How so? Positive tone words can make you think well of someone and have a favorable impression of them even without meeting. Here are some other good tone words, word examples, and their meanings:

• Joyful: Filled with happiness, delight, and great pleasure.
• Optimistic: Expecting positive outcomes, hopeful, and confident about the future.
• Enthusiastic: Displaying intense excitement, passion, and eagerness.
• Serene: Calm, peaceful, and tranquil.
• Endearing: Inspiring warmth or affection
• Grateful: Feeling or expressing appreciation and thankfulness.
• Empowered: Feeling confident, capable, and in control of one’s life or circumstances.
• Radiant: Emitting brightness, happiness, and positivity.
• Inspirational: Providing motivation, encouragement, and a sense of upliftment.
• Energetic: Full of vigor, liveliness, and vitality.
• Confident: Having self-assurance, belief in one’s abilities, and a positive outlook.
• Empathetic: showing empathy; feeling the emotions of others.

Negative Tone Words

The use of negative tone words can considerably influence the perceptions produced by readers, regardless of whether they describe a location, a literary work, or a collective of individuals. Simply put, just as positive tone words spark positive emotions, negative ones spark negative ones.

Hence, when applying negative tone phrases, you must exercise caution and ensure your criticisms remain fair, constructive, and objective, and that is very important.

By attentively picking your words, you can provide a well-rounded perspective while keeping your message’s moral sense and integrity. Striking the correct balance between negative and positive judgments provides for a full understanding and encourages effective interactions.

• Miserable: Extremely unhappy, sorrowful, or distressed.
• Disgusting: Causing intense revulsion, repugnance, or strong aversion.
• Aggressive: Hostile, confrontational, or prone to initiating conflict.
• Chaotic: Marked by disorder, confusion, and lack of organization or control.
• Repulsive: Evoking strong feelings of dislike, aversion, or disgust.
• Arrogant: Displaying an exaggerated sense of superiority, self-importance, or entitlement.
• Hateful: Full of intense dislike, animosity, or prejudice towards someone or something.
• Depressing: Causing feelings of sadness, dejection, or hopelessness.
• Inferior: Of lower quality, value, or importance compared to others.

Neutral Tone Words

Neutral tone words help maintain a fair and unbiased approach, allowing readers to form their opinions without undue influence. Here are examples of neutral tone words along with their meanings:

• Ordinary: Usual, commonplace, or unremarkable.
• Standard: Conforming to established norms, expectations, or criteria.
• Common: Frequently occurring, widely experienced, or generally known.
• Typical: Representing a characteristic example or pattern.
• Balanced: Exhibiting equality, equilibrium, or impartiality.
• Objective: Unbiased, based on facts, and devoid of personal opinions or feelings.
• Rationale: Logical, reasoned, and based on sound judgment or reasoning.
• Neutral: Impartial, unbiased, or not taking sides.
• Moderate: Neither excessive nor extreme, characterized by a reasonable and measured approach.
• Unbiased: Fair, impartial, and free from prejudice or favoritism.
• Indifferent: Having no particular preference or bias, lacking interest or concern.
• Matter-of-fact: Devoid of emotional embellishment, straightforward, and focused on facts.

How to Find the Right Tone for Your Work

So far, we have established that finding the right, powerful tone words is the key to successfully delivering your message through writing. To figure out which examples of tone words used work best for your goal, ask these reflective questions:

• Why am I writing this?

It helps to know why you’re writing in the first place to set the right words of tone in your writing. What effect do you hope to have on the reader? Each goal requires specific words and unique words for the tone of the literature to be adequate.

• Who exactly am I writing for?

When deciding on a tone for your writing, it is essential to keep your readers in mind. Is it an official report, a casual blog post, or a rigorous research paper? The interest and understanding of your readers will increase if you modify your author’s tone to match their expectations and preferences.

• What do I hope the reader will take away from this experience?

The tone of your communication can be improved by first determining the key idea or message you wish to express. Whatever you’re trying to do through your writing – persuade, inform, or evoke an emotion – matching your tone to your intended result is crucial!

The tone of any formal writing must be clear, concise, confident, and courteous. Attempt refinement without straying into pretentiousness; balance formality and readability.

However, creative writing allows for greater latitude in tone. Still, focus on effectively using tone words, regardless of the genre. The tone you go for will be influenced by the genre you’re writing in, but ultimately, you want to get your point across, make the reader feel something, and pull them into the story.

Suppose writers take the time to evaluate these factors carefully. In that case, they can master using an appropriate tone to describe words that will connect with their target audience, improve readability, and have the desired effect. We hope you become one such writer.

Tone Words Examples in Various Texts

Again, tone words play a vital role in shaping the atmosphere and evoking emotions in different types of writing. The choice of tone words varies based on the formality of the writing and is further influenced by the genre, whether creative or formal.

Let’s explore some examples of tone words in various types of writing:

• Melancholic: Conveys a tone of sadness, longing, or introspection, often found in poems exploring themes of loss or nostalgia.
• Whimsical: Creates a playful and lighthearted tone, commonly used in poems that embrace imagination and fantasy.
• Serene: Establishes a calm and peaceful tone, often seen in verses that celebrate nature or meditate on inner peace.
• Euphoric: Creates a tone of extreme joy, vitality, or ecstasy, frequently found in poems expressing moments of joy or bliss.

Romantic Novel

• Passionate: Sets an intense and vibrant tone, typically associated with love, desire, and emotional depth.
• Sentimental: Evokes tender and nostalgic emotions, often found in romantic novels emphasizing deep emotional connections.
• Yearning: Conveys a tone of longing or desire, frequently employed in books that explore unrequited love or longing for a lost connection.
• Tender: Establishes a gentle and affectionate tone, often used to depict tender moments of intimacy or vulnerability.

Horror Fiction

• Eerie: Creates a tone of unease, suspense, and impending dread, frequently found in horror fiction to heighten tension.
• Sinister: Evokes a dark, malicious, or hateful tone, often depicting evil or foreboding circumstances.
• Terrifying: Establishes a tone of extreme fear, horror, or terror intended to invoke a visceral response from the reader.
• Macabre: Conveys a tone of fascination with the gruesome death or the supernatural, often seen in horror fiction that explores the darker aspects of human existence.

Informative News Article

• Objective: Establish a neutral and unbiased tone, presenting facts and information without personal opinions or emotions.
• Authoritative: Conveys a tone of expertise, credibility, and confidence, frequently employed in news articles to establish trustworthiness.
• Informative: Sets a tone of clarity, providing straightforward and concise information to educate the readers.
• Balanced: Establishes a fair and even-handed tone, presenting multiple perspectives and avoiding bias or favoritism.

What Is the Difference Between Tone and Voice?

Tone and voice are sometimes misunderstood or used interchangeably by writers. However, they couldn’t be more dissimilar. We’ve established that tone conveys the author’s or a character’s feelings about the subject.

Tone words in nonfiction writing reveal the author’s point of view. Tone words are helpful in fiction because they indicate a scene’s or conversation’s emotional state, whether the reader might expect tension, happiness, sadness, etc.

While the term “voice” describes the overall character of a piece of writing. One author’s scathing tone may be another’s instructive or friendliness.

What Is the Difference Between Tone and Mood?

The word for tone in literature is the mood or atmosphere that the author intends for the reader to experience while reading the text, while mood is the experience that the reader has while reading the story.

How the author feels about the setting or the character and how he wants the reader to feel determines the tone. On the contrary, the reader’s emotional response establishes the mood. Setting the mood at the opening of a story prepares the audience for what is to come.

How do you identify tone words?

Identifying tone words in a piece of writing is essential for understanding the intended emotions and attitudes conveyed by the author. Here are some key approaches to identifying tone words:

• Contextual Clues: Pay attention to the overall context and the writer’s purpose. Examine the subject matter, the writer’s attitude, and the intended audience. These factors can provide valuable hints about the tone.
• Word Choice: Look for words that evoke emotions or convey a particular attitude. Tone words often carry emotional weight or reveal the author’s perspective. Words with strong connotations, such as “brutal,” “uplifting,” or “serene,” can indicate the tone.
• Go with your Gut: Sometimes, the best way to explain a tone is to say that you just “get it.” The text makes you feel a specific way, whether it’s urgent or melancholy. After reading it, you feel angry and get the impression that the author is also angry. Or sometimes, there is nothing specifically humorous about the writing, yet you find yourself laughing anyhow. As a result, go with your instinct when deciding how to interpret the author’s tone in passages like these.

Readers also enjoyed

WHY WAIT? PLACE AN ORDER RIGHT NOW!

Just fill out the form, press the button, and have no worries!

We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy.