Figurative language
Also known as: figures of speech
Figurative language is language that conveys meaning beyond the literal definitions of its words, using devices such as simile, metaphor, personification, and hyperbole to create imagery, emphasis, and emotional effect.
Figurative language is any use of words that departs from their plain, literal meaning to achieve a special effect. When a writer says "the classroom was a zoo," no animals are involved — the comparison communicates chaos more vividly than a literal description could. Writers use figurative language to create imagery, compress meaning, and shape the reader's emotional response.
The most commonly tested figures of speech are: simile, an explicit comparison using "like" or "as" ("brave as a lion"); metaphor, a direct comparison that calls one thing another ("time is a thief"); personification, giving human qualities to nonhuman things ("the wind whispered"); hyperbole, deliberate exaggeration ("I've told you a million times"); and symbolism, an object or image that stands for a larger idea. Related devices include understatement, idiom, oxymoron, and allusion.
On reading exams, figurative language questions rarely stop at identification. They ask what the figure accomplishes: what two things are compared, what qualities the comparison transfers, and how the device shapes tone or theme. Interpreting a metaphor means recognizing both the literal image and the meaning the author builds from it.
Figurative language appears throughout the AP English Literature exam, the CLT verbal reasoning and writing sections, and the Praxis Core Reading test. Expect passage-based questions that ask you to identify a device, interpret its meaning in context, and explain its contribution to the author's tone, style, or purpose.
Key takeaways
- Figurative language conveys meaning beyond the literal definitions of words.
- Core devices include simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, and symbolism.
- A simile compares with "like" or "as"; a metaphor states the comparison directly.
- Exam questions focus on interpreting what a device means in context, not just naming it.
- AP English Literature, the CLT, and Praxis Core Reading all test figurative language in passage analysis.