Figurative language
Figurative language involves comparing two things that may not relate to each other. This type of language the varies from the norms of literal language, in which words mean exactly what they say. Figurative language doesn't literally mean what it says. Figurative language means using words to signfy another meaning or to recall an emotion.
Figurative Language Words
Metaphor
A figure of speech that makes a direct comparison between a thing or person to another.
Example: You were a gray beret and the whole being at peace.
Personification
A figure of speech that provides nature or human-like qualities to something non-human.
Example: The restless tidal waves raged all throughout the night.
Alliteration
A figure of speech that signifies an occurrence of closely connected words all starting with the same letter.
Example: A big bully beats a baby boy.
Simile
A comparison between two things using like or as.
Your eyes are like the green grass.
Hyperbole
The exaggerated claims or statements that shouldn't be taken seriously.
I've told you a million times.
Imagery
A descriptive language and vivid to add insight to the work.
All the houses are built that way, with ornamental urns set on the mansard roof-tops where the pigeons take their walks.
Onomatopoeia
Using the words that sound just like the meaning.
Idiom
An expression whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of its constituent elements.
I have butterflies in my stomach.
Pun
A play on words in which humorous effect is produced by using a word that suggests two or more meanings or by exploiting similar sounding words having different meanings.
An elephant's opinion carries a lot of weight.
Allusion
A figure of speech that makes a reference to person, place, or something that happened.
Stop acting like my ex-husband please.
Paradox
Someone who does two things that seem to be opposite to each other or who has the qualities that are opposite.
The swiftest traveler is he that goes afoot.
Examples of Figurative Language
Her voice sounds like Ashanti.
It's raining cats and dogs.
The sky is falling.
The poorest man is the richest, and the rich are poor.
I move fast like a cheetah on the Serengeti.
Her head was spinning from all the new information.
I'm so hungry I could eat a hippopotamus.
I’ve told you a million times to sweep the floor!
Figurative Language Games
It's always great to learn figurative language when you can play games.
Figurative Language Jeopardy
StarrMatica
Spell City
Super Shooter Basketball Review Game
Soft Schools-Figurative Language Quiz
Why do we use figurative language?
Authors use figurative language because they want to convey creativity. Figurative language attracts you into the story. You can use it as a rhetorical tool by lengthening and emphasizing the words to get the most out of the meaning. In creative writing, figurative language is used more practically. However, figurative language makes things harder or easier to comprehend confiding on the intention of detail.
External Links
Examples of Figurative Language
Different figurative language words and definitions
Figurative Language and Rhetorical Devices
Why do writers use figurative language?
Work Cited
Corp., LoveToKnow. Your Dictionary The Dictionary We Can Understand. LovetoKnow Corp. 1996-2014.
Nelsoncj. Figurative Language Definitions/Examples/Pictures. Quizlet LLC. 2014.
Schowartz, B. Debora, Dr. Figurative Language and Rhetorical Devices. California Polytechnic State University. 2002.
Martin, Phillip. What is figurative language? All Rights Reserved.
Answer Corporation. Why do writers use figurative language? Answer Corporation. 2014.