Meanings
plural figures of speech
- rhetoricstylisticA word or phrase that intentionally deviates from ordinary language use to produce a rhetorical effect.
Synonyms: turn of phrase
- broadlyA turn of phrase that is not intended to be interpreted literally, but is used solely as a rhetorical device for the purpose of facilitating effective and nuanced communication.
I hope you didn't take it the wrong way, that was a figure of speech.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA word or phrase that intentionally deviates from ordinary language use to produce a rhetorical effect.
More synonyms by meaning
nounlanguage used in a figurative or nonliteral sense
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Bulgarian реторична фигура
- реторична фигура (retorična figura)rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard
Czech řečnická figura
- řečnická figurarhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard
Dutch stijlfiguur
- stijlfiguurrhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard
Finnish kielikuva
- kielikuvarhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard
French figure de style, figure de rhétorique
- figure de stylerhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard
- figure de rhétoriquerhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard
German Redefigur, rhetorisches Stilmittel
- Redefigurrhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard
- rhetorisches Stilmittelrhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard
Greek σχήμα λόγου
- σχήμα λόγου (schíma lógou)rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard
Indonesian majas, gaya bahasa
- majasrhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard
- gaya bahasarhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard
Italian figura retorica
- figura retoricarhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard
Japanese 言葉の綾
- 言葉の綾 (kotoba no aya)rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard
Malay bunga bahasa
- bunga bahasarhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard
Māori kīpeha
- kīpeharhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard
Polish figura retoryczna, figura stylistyczna
- figura retorycznarhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard
- figura stylistycznarhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard
Portuguese figura de linguagem
- figura de linguagemrhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard
Romanian figură de stil
- figură de stilrhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard
Russian фигу́ра ре́чи, ритори́ческая фигу́ра
- фигу́ра ре́чи (figúra réči)rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard
- ритори́ческая фигу́ра (ritoríčeskaja figúra)rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard
Spanish figura retórica
- figura retóricarhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard
Swedish stilfigur
- stilfigurrhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard
Tagalog tayutay
- tayutayrhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard
Ukrainian фігу́ра мо́ви
- фігу́ра мо́ви (fihúra móvy)rhetoric, stylistic: word or phrase that deviates from standard
Cite this entry
figure of speech. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/figure%20of%20speech
“figure of speech.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/figure%20of%20speech. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “figure of speech,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/figure%20of%20speech.
Source: figure of speech on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.