What Are The Figurative Language Devices? | Common Types Decoded

Figurative language devices are the patterns writers and speakers use when plain, literal wording feels flat. They bend everyday language on purpose. That bend helps a line feel vivid, musical, funny, dramatic, or easier to remember.

You’ve heard them all your life. “Time is money.” “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.” “The wind whispered through the trees.” Nobody hears those lines and stops to ask whether time is cash, hunger can swallow livestock, or air has vocal cords. The point lands anyway. That’s the power of figurative language.

If you’re studying literature, writing essays, or trying to spot devices in a poem, the trick is simple: look for a phrase that means more than its literal wording. Then ask what effect it creates. Does it compare? Exaggerate? Give human traits to an object? Swap one idea for another? Once you know the common patterns, these devices stop feeling slippery.

What Are The Figurative Language Devices In Literature And Speech?

In literature and speech, figurative language devices are figures of speech that create meaning beyond dictionary definitions. Merriam-Webster’s entry on figurative language frames this as wording that is meaningful but not literally true, which is a neat way to think about it. You are meant to feel or picture something, not read the line like a lab report.

These devices show up in poems, novels, songs, films, ads, speeches, and daily talk. A coach might say a player is “on fire.” A friend might call a messy desk “a disaster zone.” A novelist might describe dawn as “a pale ribbon of light.” Different settings, same move: language steps past the literal to make the message hit harder.

Why Writers Use Them

Writers lean on figurative language for a few steady reasons:

• It paints a clearer mental picture.
• It packs emotion into fewer words.
• It helps abstract ideas feel concrete.
• It gives rhythm and voice to a passage.
• It makes lines stick in the reader’s mind.

That last point matters a lot. Literal wording can explain. Figurative wording can linger. A plain sentence may tell you what happened. A sharp device can make you feel it.

Core Figurative Language Devices You’ll See Most

There are dozens of figures of speech, yet a small group appears again and again in school texts and everyday reading. Learn these first and the rest become easier to sort out.

Metaphor

A metaphor says one thing is another to suggest a shared quality. “The classroom was a zoo” does not mean animals took over the building. It means the room felt noisy, wild, and hard to control. Britannica’s note on similes and metaphors draws the same line: metaphor makes the comparison directly, without “like” or “as.”

Simile

A simile also compares two unlike things, yet it uses a signal word such as “like” or “as.” “Her smile was like sunshine” is a simile. It is often the easiest device to spot because the marker word is sitting right there.

Personification

Personification gives human traits, feelings, or actions to nonhuman things. “The alarm clock screamed.” “The leaves danced.” “Justice turned her back.” This move can make a scene feel alive in a split second.

Hyperbole

Hyperbole is deliberate overstatement. “I’ve told you a million times” is not math. It is pressure, frustration, and emphasis packed into one familiar line. Used well, hyperbole can sound funny, annoyed, dramatic, or playful.

Idiom

An idiom is a phrase whose whole meaning differs from the literal meanings of its individual words. “Break the ice,” “spill the beans,” and “hit the books” all work this way. Idioms are common in speech, which is why they can be tricky for learners who read them word by word.

Allusion

An allusion is a brief reference to a person, text, event, or myth that the audience is expected to recognize. Calling someone “a Romeo” points to Shakespeare without spelling out the whole backstory. One small reference can carry a lot of meaning.

Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia uses words that echo a sound, such as “buzz,” “bang,” “hiss,” or “crack.” These words pull sound into the sentence itself, which can make a line feel more physical and immediate.

Device	What it does	Mini example
Metaphor	States one thing as another	“His mind was a locked room.”
Simile	Compares with “like” or “as”	“Cold as ice.”
Personification	Gives human traits to nonhuman things	“The city never sleeps.”
Hyperbole	Uses overstatement for force or humor	“This bag weighs a ton.”
Idiom	Means more than the literal words	“Under the weather.”
Allusion	Refers briefly to a known source	“He met his Waterloo.”
Onomatopoeia	Echoes real sound in a word	“The bacon sizzled.”
Oxymoron	Pairs terms that seem to clash	“Deafening silence.”

How To Tell One Device From Another

This is where many readers get tripped up. A sentence can feel figurative without making its device obvious at first glance. The cleanest method is to test the line in layers.

Start With The Literal Reading

Ask whether the sentence can be true in a plain, factual sense. If not, you are probably dealing with figurative language. “The stars danced” fails the literal test, so you know the wording is doing extra work.

Next, Find The Pattern

Then ask what kind of extra work it is doing:

• If it compares with “like” or “as,” it is likely a simile.
• If it compares without those markers, it may be a metaphor.
• If it gives human action to a thing, it may be personification.
• If it blows a statement far past normal scale, it is likely hyperbole.
• If the phrase has a shared meaning that the words do not spell out, it may be an idiom.

Purdue OWL’s literary terms page is handy here because it sets out short definitions for several of the devices students meet most often in class.

Then Ask What The Line Adds

A label alone is not enough in school writing. You also need the effect. Does the device make the mood lighter? Does it sharpen an image? Does it push the reader toward sympathy, fear, or surprise? That extra sentence of explanation is often what lifts an answer from passable to strong.

Question to ask	What it helps you spot	Clue in the wording
Is there a comparison?	Metaphor or simile	“is,” “like,” “as”
Is something nonhuman acting human?	Personification	smiled, shouted, waited
Is the statement stretched past reality?	Hyperbole	million, forever, ton
Does the whole phrase mean something else?	Idiom	common fixed expression
Is there a brief nod to a known source?	Allusion	myth, Bible, famous text

Where Students Often Get Confused

Metaphor Vs Simile

These two are cousins, so confusion is normal. A simile says one thing is like another. A metaphor skips that bridge and fuses them. “He fought like a lion” is a simile. “He was a lion in battle” is a metaphor.

Hyperbole Vs Literal Emphasis

Not every strong statement is hyperbole. “I was tired after the exam” is plain statement. “I was dead after the exam” swings into figurative territory because it stretches the truth for force.

Personification Vs Plain Description

“The tree moved in the wind” is literal. “The tree waved at us” gives the tree a human action, so that is personification.

Idiom Vs Any Odd Phrase

An idiom is usually a shared phrase with a recognized meaning. A strange phrase invented by one writer may be figurative, yet not idiomatic. That difference matters in language study.

Using Figurative Language Well In Your Own Writing

Good figurative writing is precise, not cluttered. One sharp image beats a pile of mixed comparisons. If every sentence strains to sound poetic, the reader can get tired fast.

Try these habits when you write:

• Match the device to the mood. A comic scene can carry hyperbole. A reflective scene may suit metaphor.
• Keep comparisons clear. If the reader has to wrestle with the image, the line may need trimming.
• Avoid mixing unrelated images in one sentence.
• Use devices where they add meaning, not just decoration.
• Read the sentence aloud. If it sounds forced, it probably is.

That last step catches a lot. Figurative language should feel natural inside the voice of the piece. When it clicks, the reader barely notices the technique. They just feel the sentence working.

Why These Devices Matter Beyond English Class

Figurative language is not trapped inside poetry anthologies. It shapes speeches, songs, sports talk, headlines, comedy, and casual conversation. Once you notice it, you start hearing it everywhere.

That matters for reading and for writing. When you can spot the device, you can unpack tone and meaning faster. When you can use the device well, your own sentences gain texture and force without getting bloated.

So, what are the figurative language devices? They are the everyday tools that push words beyond the literal: metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole, idiom, allusion, onomatopoeia, and more. Learn the pattern, test the effect, and the whole topic gets a lot less foggy.