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rhetorical vocab
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| metaphor | A metaphor is a comparison in which something is said to figuratively be something else. Example: He was a wolf among sheep. |
| hyperbole | A hyperbole is an intentional exaggeration. Example: The plate exploded into a million pieces. |
| alliteration | Alliteration is repeating the same or similar sounds at the beginning of words. Example: She sells seashells by the sea shore. |
| analogy | An analogy is a comparison between two similar things, typically using figurative language. Metaphors and similes are usually considered to be types of analogies. Example: Life is like a box of chocolates: you never know what you are going to get. |
| onomatopoeia | An onomatopoeia is a word that imitates the sound it refers to. Example: The thunder boomed and the lightning crashed. |
| allusion | Allusion is the act of casually referencing something, usually a work of popular culture. Example: Finishing his memoir was his white whale. |
| oxymoron | Oxymoron is a figure of speech that uses two opposite words together. Example: The treaty led to a violent peace. |
| satire | Satire is using humor to criticize public figures. Example: When Senator Jackson said “numbers don’t lie,” he forgot that his first name wasn’t “Numbers.” |
| paradox | In rhetoric, the word paradox refers to making a statement that seems self-contradictory or impossible but actually makes sense. Example: Youth is wasted on the young. |
| simile | A simile is a comparison in which something is said to figuratively be like something else. Example: It was as hot as a desert this morning. |
| irony | In rhetoric, the notoriously confusing word irony means to use words to mean the opposite of their literal meaning. Example: Ashley said it was a beautiful day while drying off from the drenching rain. |
| personification | Personification is the act of giving human elements to non-human things. Example: The beautiful valley spread its arms out and embraced us. |
| anecdote | An anecdote is a brief story about something that happened to the speaker, usually something funny or interesting. Example: Five years ago, I went to the store and met some clowns. Those clowns gave me the advice I am sharing with you now. |
| euphemism | Euphemism is using alternative language to refer to explicit or unpleasant things. Example: The baseball struck him in a sensitive area. |
| connotation | Connotation is using words to suggest a social or emotional meaning rather than a literal one. Example: This is a house, but I want a home. |
| meiosis | As a rhetorical device, meiosis means using euphemism to minimize the importance or significance of something. Example: We must put an end to this peculiar institution. (“Peculiar institution” is a euphemism for slavery.) |
| apostrophe | when a writer or speaker directly addresses an absent person, a concept, or an inanimate object. Example: You have made a fool out of me for the last time, washing machine! |
| antithesis | using parallel sentences or clauses to make a contrast. Example: No pain, no gain. |
| sarcasm | Sarcasm is using irony to mock something or to show contempt. Example: Oh, yeah, John is a great guy. A great guy who took the last slice of pizza. |
| consonance | Consonance is a repetition of consonants or consonant sounds. Example: Mike likes Ike’s bike. |
| rhetorical question | A rhetorical question is a question that isn’t intended to be answered, question is meant to make an audience think or to cause an emotional reaction. Example: Are you kidding me? |
| epithet | A nickname or descriptive term used to refer to someone. Example: You need to listen to me and not Clueless Kevin over there. |
| anaphora | Anaphora is the repetition of a word or words at the start of phrases, clauses, or sentences. Example: I came, I saw, I conquered. |
| climax | In rhetoric, climax is ordering words so that they build up in intensity. Example: Look at the sky! It’s a bird! A plane! Superman! |
| cacophony | Cacophony is the act of purposefully using harsh sounds. Example: The gnashing of teeth and screeching of bats kept me awake. |
| assonance | Assonance is the repetition of the same vowel sound with different consonants. Example: She and Lee see the bees in the tree. |
| pun | A person is making a pun when they humorously use words with multiple meanings or words with similar sounds to create wordplay. Example: The farmer tried to get his cows to get along, but they insisted on having a beef with each other. |
| parallelism | Parallelism is using grammatically similar phrases or sentences together. Example: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. |
| aphorism | A sentence expressing a general truth in a short and witty manner. Example: A penny saved is a penny earned. |
| synecdoche | Synecdoche is when a part of something is used to refer to a whole. Example: The commander had an army of 10,000 swords. (The people holding the swords were there, too.) |
| parody | Parody is an imitation of something with the intent to poke fun at it. Example: If Edgar Allen Poe had written this speech, it might have opened with “Here we are, weak and weary, gathered on a Monday dreary.” |
| colloquialism | an instance of informal language or a local expression. Example: Here in Philly, we love to eat hoagies and all kinds of tasty jawns. |
| understatement | Understatement is using language to intentionally lessen a major thing or event. Example: The erupting volcano was a little problem for the neighboring city. |
| syllogism | Syllogism is an argument based on deductive reasoning that uses generalizations to reach specific conclusions. “A is B. B is C. So, A is C.” Example: Dogs are mammals. Biscuit is a dog. Therefore, Biscuit is a mammal. |
| eponym | An eponym can refer to “a word based on or derived from a person’s name". As a rhetorical device, an eponym can be an allusion to a famous person. Example: Nick is the LeBron James of birding. |
| metonymy | Metonymy is when the name of something is replaced with something related to it. Example: He loved music from the cradle (birth) to the grave (death). |
| parenthesis | In rhetoric, parenthesis is an interruption used for clarity. Example: The audience, or at least the paying members of the audience, enjoyed the show. |
| expletive | In rhetoric, an expletive is an interrupting word or phrase used for emphasis. Example: The eggs were not, in any sense of the word, delicious. |
| metanoia | In rhetoric, metanoia refers to any instance of self-correction. Example: We’ll work on it on Sunday. No, let’s make that Monday—it’s the weekend after, all! |
| chiasmus | Chiasmus is reversing the grammatical order in two otherwise parallel phrases or sentences. Example: Dog owners own dogs and cats own cat owners. |
| asyndeton | Asyndeton is the removal of conjunctions from a sentence. |
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