figure of speech

[fig-yer uhv speech]

noun

Rhetoric.

plural

figures of speech 

1. any expressive use of language, as a metaphor, simile, personification, or antithesis, in which words are used in other than their literal sense, or in other than their ordinary locutions, in order to suggest a picture or image or for other special effect.

figure of speech

noun

1. an expression of language, such as simile, metaphor, or personification, by which the usual or literal meaning of a word is not employed

Word History and Origins

Origin of figure of speech¹

First recorded in 1815–25

Example Sentences

In baseball parlance, that phrase is typically a figure of speech.

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But it’s certainly more than a figure of speech.

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“This is absolutely absurd. I believe that President Biden is aware of this. This is merely a figure of speech to support his incorrect strategy against Russia,” Mr. Putin said, according to Russian state-controlled media.

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“That’s a figure of speech. The purse is the prize money. His winnings.”

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The quincentennial likewise fueled critical works by Smith, such as her ongoing “I See Red” series, which embeds a pejorative term used to describe Indigenous people within a figure of speech about rage.

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