Title: Figurative Language - Definition and Examples | LitCharts
Headings: Figurative Language
Figurative Language
Figurative Language Definition
Figurative Language Pronunciation
Figures of Speech and Figurative Language
The Different Things People Mean When They Say Figurative Language
Common Types of Figurative Language
Figurative Language vs. Imagery
Figurative Language Examples
Figurative Language Example: Metaphor
Metaphor in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
Figurative Language Example: Simile
Figurative Language Example: Oxymoron
Figurative Language Example: Hyperbole
Figurative Language Example: Personification
Figurative Language Example: Idiom
Figurative Language Example: Onomatopoeia
Figurative Language Example: Synecdoche
Figurative Language Example: Metonymy
Figurative Language Example: Alliteration
Why Do Writers Use Figurative Language?
Other Helpful Figurative Language Resources

Content: the squ ea ky wh ee l gets the gr ea se." Like alliteration, assonance uses repeated sounds to create a musical effect in which words echo one another. Figurative Language vs. Imagery
Many people (and websites) argue that imagery is a type of figurative language. That is actually incorrect. Imagery refers to a writers use of vivid and descriptive language to appeal to the reader's senses and more deeply evoke places, things, emotions, and more. The following sentence uses imagery to give the reader a sense of how what is being described looks, feels, smells, and sounds: The night was dark and humid, the scent of rotting vegetation hung in the air, and only the sound of mosquitoes broke the quiet of the swamp. This sentence uses no figurative language. Every word means exactly what it says, and the sentence is still an example of the use of imagery. That said, imagery can use figurative language, often to powerful effect: