Figurative Language Examples

a comparison of two unlike things without using the words “like” or “as”

• Simile

• Metaphor

• Pun

• Alliteration

a phrase that means something different than its literal meaning

• Idiom

• Metaphor

• Pun

• Alliteration

a word that imitates the sound that it represents

• Idiom

• Metaphor

• Onomatopoeia

• Alliteration

a “humorous” substitution of words that sound alike but are different in meaning

• Idiom

• Pun

• Onomatopoeia

• Alliteration

My coffee was as cold as the snow that was falling outside

• Metaphor

• Simile

• Onomatopoeia

• Alliteration

I paid an arm and a leg for my designer shoes that I bought this weekend.

• Metaphor

• Idiom

• Onomatopoeia

• Alliteration

I was very frustrated this morning due to the fact that my computer was running extremely slow.

• Personification

• Hyperbole

• Onomatopoeia

• Oxymoron

His feet squished through the mud.

• Onomatopoeia

• Hyperbole

• Irony

• Oxymoron

I had to hurry home because grandma wanted her waffles.

• Onomatopoeia

• Hyperbole

• Alliteration

• Oxymoron

I’ve told my student a billion times that they should always write their mailbox number and last name on their papers!

• Onomatopoeia

• Hyperbole

• Alliteration

• Oxymoron