15 Figures of Speech With Examples (Class 9, 10 and Exams)
                     W I Z M A N T R A  A C A D E M Y   ·   L I T E R A T U R E  D E C K
15 Figures of Speech With 
Examples (Class 9, 10 and 15
Exams) F I G U R E S   ·   1 5  E X A M P L E S
Simile to synecdoche, with one clear example each and a 12 line 
spot-the-figure test at the end.
Spot it in 10 seconds.
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C O M P A R I S O N  A N D  E X A G G E R A T I O N
Figures that compare or stretch the truth
Simile Metaphor Personification
Compares two things using 'like' Gives human actions to things.
Says one thing is another.
or 'as'. The wind whispered through the 
Time is a thief.
Her hands were as cold as ice. trees.
Apostrophe Hyperbole Transferred epithet
Speaks to someone absent or Moves an adjective to the wrong 
Exaggerates on purpose.
something not alive. noun.
I've told you a thousand times.
O Death, where is thy sting? He spent a sleepless night.
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T H E  O N E  S T U D E N T S  M I X  U P
Simile or metaphor?
Simile Metaphor
• Uses 'like' or 'as'. • No 'like' or 'as'.
• The comparison is out in the open. • The comparison is hidden.
• He fought like a lion. • He was a lion in the fight.
Spot 'like' or 'as' doing the comparing and it's a simile. No marker: metaphor.
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S O U N D  A N D  W O R D P L A Y
Figures you can hear
Alliteration Onomatopoeia Pun
The same first consonant sound, 
Words that sound like the noise. One word, two meanings.
repeated.
The bees buzzed and the door A bicycle can't stand on its own 
Peter Piper picked a peck of 
creaked. because it's two tired.
pickled peppers.
Oxymoron Antithesis Irony
The opposite of what's meant, or 
Two opposite words side by side. Opposite ideas in balanced 
of what you'd expect.
an open secret, a deafening halves.
'Lovely weather!' she said, in the 
silence Man proposes, God disposes.
middle of a storm.
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S U B S T I T U T I O N
Figures that swap one word for another
Metonymy
Names a thing by something Synecdoche Euphemism
closely linked to it. A part stands for the whole. A gentle word for a hard fact.
The pen is mightier than the All hands on deck. He passed away last year.
sword.
Metonymy uses something linked (pen for writing). Synecdoche uses a piece of the thing itself (hands for sailors).
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Y O U R  T U R N
Name the figure of speech
Answers on the next slide.
1 The classroom was a zoo. 7 It was a bittersweet farewell.
2 The stars danced in the sky. 8 The crown will find an heir.
3 She sells sea shells by the sea shore. 9 The fire station burned down.
4 He is as busy as a bee. 10 To err is human, to forgive divine.
5 I'm so hungry I could eat a horse. 11 The prisoner spent a restless night.
6 The clock ticked in the empty room. 12 We need some new faces in the team.
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A N S W E R S
Check your work
1 Metaphor 7 Oxymoron
2 Personification 8 Metonymy
3 Alliteration 9 Irony (situational)
4 Simile 10 Antithesis
5 Hyperbole 11 Transferred epithet
6 Onomatopoeia 12 Synecdoche
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G O  F U R T H E R
52 questions, simile to 
synecdoche 52
Q U E S T I O N S
The figures of speech quiz on wizmantra.com has 52 questions with 
answers.
https://www.wizmantra.com/english-practice/english-quiz/english-figures-of-speech/
Live 1-on-1 spoken English classes online: https://www.wizmantra.com/explore-english-courses/
BUILD 1
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