Figurative language is language that means something other than what the words literally say. When someone says “my phone is dying”, nothing is dying; the battery is low. The words point past their dictionary meaning to an idea the listener can see, feel or remember more easily.
The opposite is literal language, where the words mean exactly what they say: “my phone’s battery is at five percent.” Both sentences carry the same fact. The figurative one carries a picture as well, and that is the whole reason figurative language exists: it borrows something familiar to make something else vivid, funny, urgent or easier to grasp.
A quick test: could it be true word for word?
Read the phrase and ask whether it could be true if every word were taken at face value. If it could not, or if taking it that way would be absurd, you are looking at figurative language.
- “She has a heart of gold.” A heart cannot be made of gold. Figurative.
- “She gave half her lunch to the new boy.” That can happen exactly as stated. Literal.
- “It’s raining cats and dogs.” No animals fall. Figurative.
- “It rained for six hours.” Literal.
The test is not perfect. “He’s carrying a lot on his shoulders” could be literal if he is moving furniture; context decides. But it sorts most sentences in a second, and it is the first step in working out which kind of figurative language you have.
The main types of figurative language
School lists vary from eight types to twenty. The table below covers the ones that come up in classrooms, exams and real writing, with what each one actually does.
| Type | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Simile | Compares two unlike things using like or as | Her voice was as cold as January. |
| Metaphor | Says one thing is another, with no comparison word | The classroom was a zoo. |
| Personification | Gives human actions or feelings to something that is not human | The wind whispered through the trees. |
| Hyperbole | Exaggerates on purpose, for effect, not to deceive | I’ve told you a million times. |
| Understatement | Makes something sound smaller than it is | “It’s a bit damp,” he said, standing in the flood. |
| Idiom | A fixed phrase whose meaning cannot be worked out from its words | He spilled the beans about the party. |
| Metonymy | Names something by a thing closely linked to it | The White House issued a statement. |
| Synecdoche | Uses a part to stand for the whole, or the whole for a part | We need more hands on deck. |
| Oxymoron | Puts two contradictory words side by side | a deafening silence; bittersweet |
| Irony | Says the opposite of what is meant, or shows the opposite of what is expected | “Lovely weather,” she said, as the hail began. |
Many school lists also include onomatopoeia (buzz, sizzle, thud) and alliteration (Peter Piper picked a peck). Strictly, these are sound devices: they play with how words sound rather than bending what they mean. Teachers group them with figurative language because they appear together in poems and are taught together, so if a worksheet asks for them, include them; if you are writing an essay, it is worth knowing the distinction.
How to tell which type you are looking at
The question “what type of figurative language is this?” usually comes down to a few checks, in this order:
- Is there a comparison? If two unlike things are compared and you can see like or as, it is a simile. If they are compared without those words, it is a metaphor.
- Is something non-human acting human? A sun that smiles, a car that groans, a deadline that creeps up: personification. (Personification is technically a kind of metaphor, but name it as personification when that is what it is doing; that is the answer a teacher wants.)
- Is the size wrong? Far too big is hyperbole. Far too small, usually for dry humour, is understatement.
- Is it a phrase everyone already knows? If the words are fixed and you would have to learn the meaning, like under the weather or break the ice, it is an idiom.
- Is a related thing or a part standing in? “The crown” for the monarch is metonymy; “wheels” for a car is synecdoche.
- Does it mean the opposite? That is irony.
Some phrases are two things at once. “Time is a thief” is a metaphor, and because the thief steals, it personifies time as well. When an exam asks for one answer, give the most specific one that fits and be ready to explain the overlap.
Simile or metaphor: the confusion that comes up most
The rule is simple: like or as makes a simile. “He ran like the wind” is a simile; “he was the wind on that last lap” is a metaphor. The trap is that not every like signals a simile. “I like pizza” compares nothing, and “she looks like her mother” compares two people, which are not unlike things, so it is a literal comparison rather than a figure of speech.
The two often describe the same subject in different ways. Compare our collections of similes for love and metaphors for love: a simile says love is like a fire and leaves you to weigh the comparison; a metaphor says love is a fire and asks you to accept it outright. For a fuller account of how metaphors are built, including extended, implied and dead metaphors, see metaphors explained for students.
Figurative language in literature and poetry
Writers use figurative language to compress a great deal into a line. A few well-known examples, with what each one is doing:
- “All the world’s a stage” (Shakespeare, As You Like It). Metaphor. The speech goes on to give people their exits and entrances and seven parts to play, so it becomes an extended metaphor across several lines.
- “It is the east, and Juliet is the sun” (Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet). Metaphor. Romeo does not say she is like the sun; he says she is it, which tells you how completely she has taken over his thinking.
- “O my Luve’s like a red, red rose” (Robert Burns). Simile. The like is right there, and the rose brings freshness, colour and the season it blooms in.
- “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers” (Emily Dickinson). Metaphor. Hope becomes a small bird that perches in the soul and sings, an abstract idea made into something you could hold.
- “The fog comes / on little cat feet” (Carl Sandburg, “Fog”). Metaphor, and close to personification: the fog moves silently, the way a cat does, without the poem ever using like.
When you analyse a passage, naming the device is only the start. The marks come from saying what it does: what the comparison brings with it, and why the writer chose that image instead of another. “Juliet is the sun” is not just a metaphor; it makes her the source of light and warmth in Romeo’s world, and the rest of the scene builds on that. Our page of metaphors for poetry has more on how poets turn a comparison into an argument.
Using figurative language in your own writing
A good figure of speech makes the reader see something they would otherwise only be told. A few practical rules:
- Prefer the fresh image to the worn one. “Busy as a bee” is so familiar that it no longer creates a picture. “Busy as a one-armed waiter at the Christmas party” does, even if you would not use it in a report.
- Use one image at a time. A mixed metaphor yokes two images that clash: “we’ll burn that bridge when we come to it”, “the ball is in your court, so take it and run”. Each part works alone; together they fight.
- Match the register. Idioms and hyperbole suit conversation, stories and persuasive writing. In a lab report, a contract or an instruction manual they invite misreading; say the literal thing.
- Think about who is reading. Idioms are the hardest part of English for learners because their meaning cannot be decoded word by word. If your audience is international, a plain phrase is kinder than a clever one.
- Do not stack them. Three similes in a sentence cancel each other out. Pick the best one and let it work.
If you write about writing itself, our pages of similes for writing and idioms for writing show how a single subject can be approached through several devices.
Figuratively vs literally
Literally means “in the actual sense of the words”; figuratively means “not in the actual sense”. So “I was literally frozen” claims you were turned to ice, and “I was figuratively frozen” means you could not move with fright. In casual speech, literally is often used as an intensifier (“I literally died laughing”), and dictionaries now record that use. In careful writing, though, many readers still notice it, so keep literally for things that really happened as described.
Practice: name the figurative language
Identify the main type in each sentence. Answers are below.
- The old car coughed and wheezed up the hill.
- Her smile was as bright as a lighthouse.
- This bag weighs a ton.
- My brother is a night owl.
- We need to put our heads together on this.
- Hollywood loves a sequel.
- The silence was deafening.
- “Great, another Monday,” he groaned.
- Life is a rollercoaster.
- The marathon was a little tiring, she said, collapsing at the finish.
Answers. 1 personification (a car cannot cough or wheeze); 2 simile (as bright as); 3 hyperbole; 4 metaphor (he is not a bird; he stays up late); 5 idiom (meaning “think about it together”); 6 metonymy (Hollywood stands for the American film industry); 7 oxymoron; 8 irony (verbal irony: he means the opposite of “great”); 9 metaphor; 10 understatement.
Quick answers
What is the simplest definition of figurative language? Words used in a non-literal way to create an image, a comparison or an effect.
Is an idiom figurative language? Yes. An idiom is a fixed figurative phrase whose meaning has to be learned, like under the weather for “slightly ill”.
How many types of figurative language are there? There is no official number. Most classroom lists name between eight and twelve; the ten in the table above cover nearly everything you will meet.
Is a metaphor a type of figurative language? Yes, and the most common one. Similes, personification and extended metaphors are all closely related to it.