"figure of speech" meaning in English

See figure of speech in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Audio: en-au-figure of speech.ogg [Australia] Forms: figures of speech [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun|figures of speech}} figure of speech (plural figures of speech)
  1. (rhetoric, stylistic) A word or phrase that intentionally deviates from ordinary language use to produce a rhetorical effect. Tags: rhetoric Categories (topical): Rhetoric Hyponyms: figure of speech Translations (rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard): фігу́ра маўле́ння (fihúra maŭljénnja) [feminine] (Belarusian), řečnická figura [feminine] (Czech), stijlfiguur [masculine] (Dutch), kielikuva (Finnish), figure de style [feminine] (French), figure de rhétorique [feminine] (French), figura retórica [feminine] (Galician), Redefigur [feminine] (German), rhetorisches Stilmittel [neuter] (German), σχήμα λόγου (schíma lógou) [neuter] (Greek), figura retorica [feminine] (Italian), сти́лска фигу́ра (stílska figúra) [feminine] (Macedonian), figura de linguagem (Portuguese), figură de stil [feminine] (Romanian), фигу́ра ре́чи (figúra réči) [feminine] (Russian), ритори́ческая фигу́ра (ritoríčeskaja figúra) [feminine] (Russian), figura retórica [feminine] (Spanish), stilfigur [common-gender] (Swedish), фігу́ра мо́ви (fihúra móvy) [feminine] (Ukrainian)
    Sense id: en-figure_of_speech-en-noun-851e3M0S Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 74 26 Disambiguation of 'rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard': 61 39
  2. (loosely) A turn of phrase that ought not to be taken literally, but rather as employed for convenience of expression only. Tags: broadly Categories (topical): Figures of speech Synonyms: façon de parler, figure of speech, turn of phrase Related terms: figurative, idiom, in a manner of speaking, metaphor, so to speak, trope, :Category:en:Figures of speech
    Sense id: en-figure_of_speech-en-noun-14HPKbXj Disambiguation of Figures of speech: 44 56 Categories (other): English terms with collocations Hyponyms: adynaton, antithesis, apostrophe, epizeuxis, euphemism, hendiadys, hyperbole, laconism, meiosis, metaphor, metonym, oxymoron, paradiastole, parallelism, personification, pleonasm, ploce, prosopopeia, simile, synecdoche, trope

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for figure of speech meaning in English (8.1kB)

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  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "figures of speech",
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Rhetoric",
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        "A word or phrase that intentionally deviates from ordinary language use to produce a rhetorical effect."
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      "hyponyms": [
        {
          "word": "figure of speech"
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      "id": "en-figure_of_speech-en-noun-851e3M0S",
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      "qualifier": "stylistic",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(rhetoric, stylistic) A word or phrase that intentionally deviates from ordinary language use to produce a rhetorical effect."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "rhetoric"
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      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "61 39",
          "code": "be",
          "lang": "Belarusian",
          "roman": "fihúra maŭljénnja",
          "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "фігу́ра маўле́ння"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "61 39",
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "řečnická figura"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "61 39",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "stijlfiguur"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "61 39",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
          "word": "kielikuva"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "61 39",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "figure de style"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "61 39",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "figure de rhétorique"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "61 39",
          "code": "gl",
          "lang": "Galician",
          "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "figura retórica"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "61 39",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "Redefigur"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "61 39",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "rhetorisches Stilmittel"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "61 39",
          "code": "el",
          "lang": "Greek",
          "roman": "schíma lógou",
          "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "σχήμα λόγου"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "61 39",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "figura retorica"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "61 39",
          "code": "mk",
          "lang": "Macedonian",
          "roman": "stílska figúra",
          "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "сти́лска фигу́ра"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "61 39",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
          "word": "figura de linguagem"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "61 39",
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "figură de stil"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "61 39",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "figúra réči",
          "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "фигу́ра ре́чи"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "61 39",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "ritoríčeskaja figúra",
          "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "ритори́ческая фигу́ра"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "61 39",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "figura retórica"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "61 39",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
          "tags": [
            "common-gender"
          ],
          "word": "stilfigur"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "61 39",
          "code": "uk",
          "lang": "Ukrainian",
          "roman": "fihúra móvy",
          "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "фігу́ра мо́ви"
        }
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          "name": "English terms with collocations",
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          "_dis": "44 56",
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          "name": "Figures of speech",
          "orig": "en:Figures of speech",
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            "Language",
            "Communication",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
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        {
          "text": "I hope you didn't take it the wrong way, that was a figure of speech.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A turn of phrase that ought not to be taken literally, but rather as employed for convenience of expression only."
      ],
      "hyponyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "source": "Thesaurus:figure of speech",
          "word": "adynaton"
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          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "source": "Thesaurus:figure of speech",
          "word": "antithesis"
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          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "source": "Thesaurus:figure of speech",
          "word": "apostrophe"
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          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "source": "Thesaurus:figure of speech",
          "word": "epizeuxis"
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          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "source": "Thesaurus:figure of speech",
          "word": "euphemism"
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          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "source": "Thesaurus:figure of speech",
          "word": "hendiadys"
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        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "source": "Thesaurus:figure of speech",
          "word": "hyperbole"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "source": "Thesaurus:figure of speech",
          "word": "laconism"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "source": "Thesaurus:figure of speech",
          "word": "meiosis"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "source": "Thesaurus:figure of speech",
          "word": "metaphor"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "source": "Thesaurus:figure of speech",
          "word": "metonym"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "source": "Thesaurus:figure of speech",
          "word": "oxymoron"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "source": "Thesaurus:figure of speech",
          "word": "paradiastole"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "source": "Thesaurus:figure of speech",
          "word": "parallelism"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "source": "Thesaurus:figure of speech",
          "word": "personification"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "source": "Thesaurus:figure of speech",
          "word": "pleonasm"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "source": "Thesaurus:figure of speech",
          "word": "ploce"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "source": "Thesaurus:figure of speech",
          "word": "prosopopeia"
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          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "source": "Thesaurus:figure of speech",
          "word": "simile"
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          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "source": "Thesaurus:figure of speech",
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          "_dis1": "0 100",
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      "id": "en-figure_of_speech-en-noun-14HPKbXj",
      "links": [
        [
          "turn of phrase",
          "turn of phrase"
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(loosely) A turn of phrase that ought not to be taken literally, but rather as employed for convenience of expression only."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "word": "figurative"
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        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "word": "idiom"
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        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "word": "in a manner of speaking"
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        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
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        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "word": "so to speak"
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          "_dis1": "0 100",
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          "word": "façon de parler"
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        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "source": "Thesaurus:figure of speech",
          "word": "figure of speech"
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        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "source": "Thesaurus:figure of speech",
          "word": "turn of phrase"
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{
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    "Requests for review of Ancient Greek translations",
    "Requests for review of Danish translations",
    "Requests for review of Hungarian translations",
    "Requests for review of Japanese translations",
    "Requests for review of Korean translations",
    "Requests for review of Latin translations",
    "Requests for review of Mandarin translations",
    "Requests for review of Mongolian translations",
    "Requests for review of Persian translations",
    "Requests for review of Russian translations",
    "Requests for review of Swedish translations",
    "Requests for review of Tagalog translations",
    "Requests for review of Thai translations",
    "Requests for review of Vietnamese translations",
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      "word": "adynaton"
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        "(rhetoric, stylistic) A word or phrase that intentionally deviates from ordinary language use to produce a rhetorical effect."
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          "text": "I hope you didn't take it the wrong way, that was a figure of speech.",
          "type": "example"
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      ],
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        "(loosely) A turn of phrase that ought not to be taken literally, but rather as employed for convenience of expression only."
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      "word": "figure of speech"
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    {
      "code": "be",
      "lang": "Belarusian",
      "roman": "fihúra maŭljénnja",
      "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "фігу́ра маўле́ння"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "řečnická figura"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "stijlfiguur"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
      "word": "kielikuva"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "figure de style"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "figure de rhétorique"
    },
    {
      "code": "gl",
      "lang": "Galician",
      "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "figura retórica"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Redefigur"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "rhetorisches Stilmittel"
    },
    {
      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "roman": "schíma lógou",
      "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "σχήμα λόγου"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "figura retorica"
    },
    {
      "code": "mk",
      "lang": "Macedonian",
      "roman": "stílska figúra",
      "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "сти́лска фигу́ра"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
      "word": "figura de linguagem"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "figură de stil"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "figúra réči",
      "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "фигу́ра ре́чи"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "ritoríčeskaja figúra",
      "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "ритори́ческая фигу́ра"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "figura retórica"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "stilfigur"
    },
    {
      "code": "uk",
      "lang": "Ukrainian",
      "roman": "fihúra móvy",
      "sense": "rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "фігу́ра мо́ви"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "figure of speech"
  ],
  "word": "figure of speech"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.