FIGURE OF SPEECH meaning: Creative expression deviating from literal

We found 22 dictionaries that define the word figure of speech:

General (18 matching dictionaries)

figure of speech: Merriam-Webster
figure of speech: Oxford Learner's Dictionaries
figure of speech: American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
figure of speech: Collins English Dictionary
figure of speech: Vocabulary.com
figure of speech: Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary
figure-of-speech, figure of speech: Wiktionary
figure of speech: The Wordsmyth English Dictionary-Thesaurus
figure of speech: Infoplease Dictionary
figure of speech: Dictionary.com
Figure of speech: Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
figure of speech: Rhymezone
figure of speech: FreeDictionary.org
figure of speech: Mnemonic Dictionary
figure of speech: TheFreeDictionary.com
figure of speech: Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

Art (2 matching dictionaries)

Figure of Speech: Glossary of English Grammar Terms
FIGURE OF SPEECH: Bobs Byway OF POETIC TERMS

Business (1 matching dictionary)

figure of speech: Legal dictionary

Computing (1 matching dictionary)

figure of speech: Encyclopedia

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Definitions from Wiktionary (figure of speech)

▸ noun: (rhetoric, stylistic) A word or phrase that intentionally deviates from ordinary language use to produce a rhetorical effect.
▸ noun: (loosely) A turn of phrase that ought not to be taken literally, but rather as employed for convenience of expression only.

Opposite:

literal, plain, straightforward, factual, direct

Types:

metaphor, simile, hyperbole, irony, oxymoron, alliteration, onomatopoeia, personification, anaphora, more...

Phrases:

a figure of speech, more...

Adjectives:

rhetorical, rhetoric, oral, elocutionary, oratorical, enunciatory, colloquial, enunciative, idiomatic, narrational, discoursal

▸ Words similar to figure of speech

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