figure of speech
20
3.7
- noun
- /ˈfɪɡjər əv spiːtʃ/
:
figura retórica
- The phrase 'time is a thief' is a common figure of speech that suggests how quickly it passes.
- figure of speech in this play
- use figures of speech
Examples
-
It's a figure of speech!
-
Dwight: 'Turkey shoot' is just a figure of speech.
Fiction book (1993) -
No, no, it's a figure of speech.
-
It's just a figure of speech.
-
It's a figure of speech.
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"The child is a little young to understand figures of speech."
Fiction book (1998) -
Sometimes we use figures of speech.
Academic text (2013) -
That's a figure of speech, by the way.
-
That's just a figure of speech.
-
According to the two most eminent professors of Jewish Jesus, "son of God" was an Aramaic figure of speech.
Fiction book (2002)
Synonyms
5
7.4
A word or phrase that people use to describe something in a way that is not literal
1
6.6
A way of using language to persuade or add emphasis
How Figurative
- Literature
- Literature
263
4.2
- Literature
1
9.3
20
3.7
120
3.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
figure + of + speech
The phrase can be partially decoded as 'a (kind or) form of speech' since 'figure' can mean a shape/representation and 'speech' means spoken language, so a learner may infer it refers to a particular way of speaking. However, the specific meaning 'a nonliteral or rhetorical expression' depends on a less frequent sense of 'figure' and conventionalized rhetorical knowledge, so it is not fully predictable to an average B1 learner without prior exposure.
Etymology
Figure of speech comes from the idea that a figure is a picture or shape and speech is words, so together they mean words that paint an image in the mind. So when someone says 'night owl' or 'it's raining cats and dogs', they are using language in a creative, 'not literal' way to make that image for the listener.