figures of speech

• plural

  plural

  The grammatical form denoting more than one person, place, thing, or idea.

  of figure of speech.
  figure of speech

  noun

  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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

figures of speech

Enter artificial intelligence, which can flag clichés by analyzing the frequency at which figures of speech occur in data sets.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

“His prose is poetic, sensuous, imaginative, adorned with fanciful figures of speech and surprising twists of language.”

From Washington Post ● Jun. 20, 2022

He knows people see his gigantic mustache, hear his cornpone accent and predilection for bombarding everyone with folksy figures of speech, and underestimate him.

From Salon ● Aug. 7, 2021

From what you’ve said, this doesn’t sound like a figurative language issue; she’s not peppering her conversation with figures of speech or dramatic exaggerations that your daughter can’t interpret.

From Slate ● Dec. 3, 2020

Is it any wonder we love figures of speech?

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner

More Suggestions

• liberty of speech
• parts of speech
• figure of eight
• figure of merit
• freedom of speech
• part of speech
• compressed speech
• direct speech
• free speech