figure of speech

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

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Noun

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.

   Hyponyms: see Thesaurus:figure of speech

2. (loosely) A turn of phrase that ought not to be taken literally, but rather as employed for convenience of expression only.

   Synonym: façon de parler

   I hope you didn't take it the wrong way, that was a figure of speech.

Translations

rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard

• Belarusian: фігу́ра маўле́ння f (fihúra maŭljénnja),
• Czech: řečnická figura (cs) f
• Dutch: stijlfiguur (nl) m
• Finnish: kielikuva (fi)
• French: figure de style (fr) f, figure de rhétorique (fr) f
• Galician: figura retórica f
• German: Redefigur f, rhetorisches Stilmittel n
• Greek: σχήμα λόγου (el) n (schíma lógou)
• Italian: figura retorica (it) f
• Macedonian: сти́лска фигу́ра f (stílska figúra)
• Malay: bunga bahasa (literally “flowers of language”)
• Maori: kīpeha
• Portuguese: figura de linguagem (pt)
• Romanian: figură de stil (ro) f
• Russian: фигу́ра ре́чи (ru) f (figúra réči), ритори́ческая фигу́ра (ru) f (ritoríčeskaja figúra)
• Spanish: figura retórica (es) f
• Swedish: stilfigur (sv) c
• Ukrainian: фігу́ра мо́ви f (fihúra móvy),

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 修辞 (zh) (xiūcí)

• Danish: ^{(please verify)} talemåde c
• Ancient Greek: ^{(please verify)} λόγου χάρις (lógou kháris)
• Hungarian: ^{(please verify)} szókép (hu), szófordulat (hu), beszédfordulat (hu), képes beszéd, (informal) szólás (hu), szólásmondás (hu)
• Japanese: ^{(please verify)} 言葉のあや (kotoba no aya), 修辞 (ja) (しゅうじ, shūji), 文彩 (ja) (ぶんさい, bunsai), あや (ja) (aya)
• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 비유적 표현(比喩的表現) (biyujeok pyohyeon)
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} figūra ēlocūtiōnis f, ^{(please verify)} schēma logū n
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: ^{(please verify)} зүйрлэл (mn) (züjrlel)

• Persian: ^{(please verify)} آرایهٔ ادبی (ârâye-ye adabi)
• Russian: ^{(please verify)} оборо́т ре́чи (ru) m (oborót réči)
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} talesätt (sv) n
• Tagalog: ^{(please verify)} tayutay
• Thai: ^{(please verify)} ภาพพจน์ (pâap-pót)
• Vietnamese: ^{(please verify)} hình thái tu từ

See also

• figurative
• idiom
• in a manner of speaking
• metaphor
• so to speak
• trope

 

Further reading

• “figure of speech”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “figure of speech”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “figure of speech” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.