English learning crew

Figures of Speech (Stylistic Devices)

What are stylistic devices?

In literature and writing, a figure of speech (also called stylistic device or rhetorical device) is the use of any of a variety of techniques to give an auxiliary meaning, idea, or feeling.

Sometimes a word diverges from its normal meaning, or a phrase has a specialized meaning not based on the literal meaning of the words in it. Examples are metaphor, simile, or personification.

Stylistic devices often provide emphasis, freshness of expression, or clarity.

Here is a list of some of the most important figures of speech:

Stylistic DevicesAccumulationAdjunctionAdnominationAlliterationAllusionAnaphoraAntanaclasisAnticlimaxAntiphrasisAntithesisApostropheAssonanceCataphoraChiasmusClimaxDysphemismEllipsisEuphemismEpigramEpiphora (or epistrophe)HyperboleHypophoraIrony

LitotesOxymoronPersonificationPunsMerismMetalepsisMetaphorMetonymySimileSyncdocheTautologyUnderstatementZeugma and syllepsis