Kinds of Figurative Language
By Ms. Luke
Similies
• Definition – a stated comparison of two
unlike things using the words like or as .
• Examples
• Hannah has a mind like a steel trap
• The child was as light as a feather.
• Her evening gown sparkled like a
diamond.
• The girls hair was as soft as silk
Metaphors
• Definition- is a figure of speech that
compares two different things without
using the words like or as.
• Examples
• Alma is a wizard in math.
• Monifah was a perfect angel at the party
• Chauncey’s desk is a junkyard
• Jenny is a walking dictionary.
Hyperbole
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Definition- an exaggeration used for effect
Examples
I am so hungry, I could eat a horse.
I think I just gained fifty pounds after
eating this huge dinner.
• I must have a million mosquito bites.
• It will take a year to clean your desk!
Alliteration
• Definition- The repetition of initial sounds
in two or more consecutive or neighboring
words.
• Example
• Peter Piper picked a pack of pickled
peppers
• Sally sold seashells by the sea shore.
• The mouse made millions of muffins.
Imagery
• Definition- The use of language that appeals to the
senses and produces mental images.
• Examples• Grandma's hugs burn my skin.
sight: the rose is bright red
hearing: it sounds like the chirping of several birds, with
their high voices.
smell: the air smells like going to the countryside. fresh
and green. no smell of smoke but the fresh waters and
the leaves.
touch: it feels bumpy yet gives off a welcoming warmth
taste: it tastes sweet yet spicy at once, with a tinge of
orange taste.
Idiom
• Definition- An expression
whose meaning cannot
be determined by its
literal meaning.
• Examples
• To keep an eye on
someone
• Raining cats and dogs
• To have cold feet
• Smell a rat
• At the end of one’s rope
• Hold your horses
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To bury the hatchet
To be tongue tied
Icing on the cake
Hold your horses
All ears
Spill the beans
Under the weather
Eyes bigger than your
stomach
• In one ear and out the
other
Pun
• Definition – is a humorous play on words that are similar
in sound but different in meaning.
• Examples
• In a butcher shop window: "Never a bum steer."
On a diaper service truck: "Rock a dry baby."
At a lumberyard: "Come see, come saw."
On a plumber's truck: "A flush beats a full house."
At the tire store: "We skid you not!"
• My computer is so slow it hertz. MacGyver
• Joe refused to eat sushi because it looks fishy.
• Trust your calculator. It's something to count on.
• When baking dog biscuits, be sure to use collie flour.
Riddle
• Definition-A riddle is a
statement or question
having a double or veiled
meaning, put forth as a
puzzle to be solved
• Examples
• What does a lazy dog to
for fun? Chase parked
cars
• What kind of cheese is
made backward? edam
• What month has 28
days? All of them
• What is in the middle of
Paris? The letter R
• What goes up but does
not go down? Your age
• Why do chickens lay
eggs? If they drop them
they break
• Why do lions eat red
meat ? Because they
never learned to cook
Joke
• Definition-a funny, madeup story with a punch line
told by one person.
• Examples• from Akira, age 8,
England
• Q: What room do ghosts
not go in.
A: The living room.
• from Meghan, age 11,
USA
• Q: What's a math
teacher's favorite kind of
tree?
A: A geome-TREE!
Q: What do you get when
you cross a snowman
with a vampire?
A: Frostbite.
Palindrome
• Definition – a word or
word phrase which reads
the same in both
directions.
• Examples- RACECAR
• ROTOR
• EYE
• DEED
• CIVIC
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MOM
DAD
ANNA
AVIVA
BOB
NEVER ODD OR EVEN
STEP ON NO PETS.
MA HANDED EDNA HAM
NUN
Personification
• Definiton- giving human
qualities on inanimate
objects, ideas,or animals
• Examples
• “My computer hates me.”
• “The camera loves me.”
• “The sun kissed the
flowers. “
• The sun woke up and
greeted me this
morning.
• Example
• "Wind yells while blowing"
• "Wind yells while blowing" is
an example of personification
because wind cannot yell. Only
a living thing can yell.
• Necklace is a friend
• "Necklace is a friend" is an
example of personification
because Necklace is a thing,
and necklaces cannot be
friends. Only living things can
have friends.
Onomatopoeia
• Definition-the use of words that mimic the
sounds they represent.
• Examples• Bang, boom, buzz, clatter, crunch, ding
dong,hiss,plop,squish,whack,jingle,moan,
• quack,meow,roar,quack and moan
Rhythm
• Definition-the pattern of beats in speech or a line
of verse.
"flow" of the words in a poem or story.
• Example
• A Clumsy Young Fellow Named Tim
There once was a fellow named Tim (A)
whose dad never taught him to swim. (A)
He fell off a dock (B)
and sunk like a rock. (B)
And that was the end of him. (A)
Quiz
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
What type of figurative
language?
That girl is as thin as a rail
Please Pack my pink pants.
You are my sunshine
RACECAR
The sunshine kissed my
face
What is black and white and
read all over? A news paper
Buzz
8.Q: What room do ghosts not go
in.
A: The living room.
9. It’s raining cats and dogs
10. Trust your calculator. It's
something to count on.
11.I am so hungry I could eat a
horse
Answers
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11.
Simile
Alliteration
Metaphor
Palindrome
Personification
Riddle
Onomatopoeia
Joke
Idiom
Pun
Hyperbole