Figurative Language Definitions

Figurative Language
Definitions
GLE 0501.8.4 Recognize and understand basic literary
terms (e.g., simile, metaphor, setting, point of view,
alliteration, onomatopoeia).
0501.8.14 Know and use basic literary devices (e.g.,
imagery, metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole).
SPI 0501.8.7 Identify similes, metaphors, personification,
and hyperbole in context.
SPI 0501.8.8 Identify the effect of sound within context
(i.e., onomatopoeia, alliteration,
rhythm, rhyme, repetition).
Figurative Language Terms
• alliteration
• assonance
• hyperbole
• idiom
• imagery
• irony
• metaphor
• onomatopoeia
• personification
• simile
• symbolism
alliteration
• the repetition of consonant sounds within
words in a sentence or phrase
Example: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled
peppers.
assonance
• the repetition of a vowel sound
Example: The sound of the hound was bound to
make me crazy.
hyperbole
• an obvious and intentional exaggeration
Example: I am so hungry; I could eat a horse.
idiom
• Phrase where the words together have a
different meaning than the dictionary
definitions of the individual words
Example: It’s raining cats and dogs.
nine.
On cloud
imagery
• use of vivid or figurative language to represent
objects, actions, or ideas and appealing to all
five senses
irony
• Something that is unexpected
Example: You want your brother to get in
trouble, but you get in trouble instead.
metaphor
• a comparison between two unlike things using
the verb “to be”. Metaphors are similar to
similes BUT don’t use “like” or “as”.
Example: Her face is an open book.
onomatopoeia
• a word that imitates the sound that it makes.
It says the sound.
Example: Crack! Boom! Blam!
personification
• giving human qualities to something that is
not human
Example: The trees danced in the wind.
simile
• comparison of two unlike things using either
the word “like” or “as”
Example: Her face is like an open book.
symbolism
• Something that represents or stands for
something else.
Example: A dove is a symbol of peace.