Definition | Literary Term |
repetition of the same sound beginning several words in sequence | |
opposition, or contrast of ideas or words in a balanced or parallel construction. | |
repetition of the same sound in words close to each other. | |
arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses in an order of ascending power. Often the last emphatic word in one phrase or clause is repeated as the first emphatic word of the next | |
substitution of an agreeable or at least non-offensive expression for one whose plainer meaning might be harsh or unpleasant | |
exaggeration for emphasis or for rhetorical effect | |
expression of something which is contrary to the intended meaning; the words say one thing but mean another | |
implied comparison achieved through a figurative use of words; the word is used not in its literal sense, but in one analogous to it | |
use of words to imitate natural sounds; accommodation of sound to sense | |
apparent paradox achieved by the juxtaposition of words which seem to contradict one another | |
an assertion seemingly opposed to common sense, but that may yet have some truth in it | |
attribution of personality to an impersonal thing | |
an explicit comparison between two things using 'like' or 'as' | |
a play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes on the similar sense or sound of different words | |
a figure of speech in which a writer or a speaker deliberately makes a situation seem less important or serious than it is | |
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