100 Language Devices Every Student Should Know

No.	Item	Definition
1.	allegory	Narrative representing a deeper meaning.
2.	alliteration	Repeating initial consonant sounds.
3.	allusion	Indirect reference to something familiar.
4.	anadiplosis	Ending word repeated at the next beginning.
5.	analogy	Comparison explaining an unfamiliar idea.
6.	anaphora	Repetition at successive beginnings.
7.	anecdote	Brief story illustrating a point.
8.	anticlimax	Sudden shift from importance to triviality.
9.	antimetabole	Repeating words in reverse grammatical order.
10.	antithesis	Contrasting ideas in balanced structures.
11.	aposiopesis	Suddenly breaking off before finishing.
12.	apostrophe	Addressing someone absent or something nonhuman.
13.	assonance	Repetition of nearby vowel sounds.
14.	asyndeton	Omitting conjunctions from a series.
15.	balanced sentence	Sentence containing equally structured parts.
16.	bathos	Abrupt descent from serious to trivial.
17.	cacophony	Harsh combination of discordant sounds.
18.	caesura	Strong pause within a poetic line.
19.	chiasmus	Reversing structures in successive phrases.
20.	cliché	Overused expression lacking originality.
21.	climax	Ideas arranged toward greatest intensity.
22.	conceit	Elaborate and surprising extended comparison.
23.	consonance	Repetition of nearby consonant sounds.
24.	diacope	Repetition separated by intervening words.
25.	direct address	Speaking directly to the reader or audience.
26.	double entendre	Phrase with two possible meanings.
27.	doublespeak	Evasive language disguising unpleasant truth.
28.	dramatic irony	Audience knows what characters do not.
29.	dysphemism	Harsh expression replacing a neutral one.
30.	ellipsis	Deliberate omission of understood words.
31.	emotive language	Words chosen to provoke strong feelings.
32.	end-stopping	Completing a phrase at line’s end.
33.	enjambment	Sentence continuing beyond a poetic line.
34.	epistrophe	Repetition at successive endings.
35.	epizeuxis	Immediate repetition of a word.
36.	euphemism	Mild expression replacing something unpleasant.
37.	euphony	Pleasant combination of harmonious sounds.
38.	extended metaphor	Metaphor developed across several lines.
39.	eye rhyme	Words spelled alike but pronounced differently.
40.	foreshadowing	Hints about events that occur later.
41.	fronting	Moving an element to the sentence beginning.
42.	hendiadys	Expressing one idea through two linked words.
43.	hyperbole	Deliberate exaggeration for emphasis.
44.	hypophora	Asking a question then answering it.
45.	idiom	Expression whose meaning is not literal.
46.	imagery	Descriptive language appealing to the senses.
47.	imperative	Command or request using the base verb.
48.	inclusive language	Wording that includes the audience.
49.	innuendo	Indirect suggestion of something improper.
50.	internal rhyme	Rhyme occurring within one poetic line.
51.	invective	Language expressing forceful criticism or abuse.
52.	inversion	Reversing normal word order for effect.
53.	irony	Contrast between appearance and reality.
54.	isocolon	Parallel clauses of similar length.
55.	juxtaposition	Placing contrasting elements close together.
56.	kenning	Compound expression replacing a simple noun.
57.	litotes	Understatement formed by negating its opposite.
58.	logos	Appeal based on logic and evidence.
59.	loose sentence	Main clause followed by additional details.
60.	malapropism	Mistaken use of a similar-sounding word.
61.	merism	Contrasting parts representing an entire whole.
62.	metaphor	Direct comparison without like or as.
63.	metonymy	Replacing something with a related term.
64.	motif	Recurring element reinforcing a theme.
65.	onomatopoeia	Words imitating the sounds they describe.
66.	oxymoron	Combining apparently contradictory words.
67.	paradox	Seeming contradiction containing possible truth.
68.	parallelism	Repeating similar grammatical structures.
69.	parenthesis	Inserted remark interrupting a sentence.
70.	pathetic fallacy	Nature reflecting human feelings or events.
71.	personification	Giving human qualities to nonhuman things.
72.	pleonasm	Using unnecessary words for emphasis.
73.	polyptoton	Repeating words derived from one root.
74.	polysyndeton	Repeated conjunctions between successive items.
75.	procatalepsis	Anticipating and answering an objection.
76.	pun	Humor exploiting multiple word meanings.
77.	refrain	Repeated line or phrase in poetry.
78.	repetition	Reusing words or structures for emphasis.
79.	rhetorical question	Question asked for effect, not answers.
80.	rhyme	Repetition of similar ending sounds.
81.	rhythm	Pattern of stressed and unstressed sounds.
82.	rule of three	Grouping three elements for memorable effect.
83.	sarcasm	Mocking language expressing contempt.
84.	satire	Humor criticizing faults or foolishness.
85.	semantic field	Group of words sharing related meanings.
86.	sibilance	Repetition of hissing consonant sounds.
87.	simile	Comparison using like or as.
88.	situational irony	Outcome contradicts reasonable expectations.
89.	slant rhyme	Rhyme using similar but unequal sounds.
90.	symbolism	Using something to represent deeper meaning.
91.	synecdoche	Using a part to represent the whole.
92.	synesthesia	Describing one sense through another.
93.	tautology	Repeating the same meaning unnecessarily.
94.	transferred epithet	Adjective grammatically attached to another noun.
95.	understatement	Presenting something as less important.
96.	verbal irony	Words mean the opposite of their surface.
97.	volta	Major turn in thought or argument.
98.	wordplay	Clever manipulation of words and meanings.
99.	zeugma	One word governs two others differently.
100.	zoomorphism	Giving animal qualities to nonanimal things.