1) What “figures of speech” means (CUET-ready)
Figures of speech are rhetorical and poetic devices in which language is used in a non-literal, patterned, or heightened way to create:
- emphasis,
- imagery,
- emotional force,
- persuasion,
- aesthetic effect.
This is a high-yield CUET area because questions often test:
- definitions,
- identification by example,
- distinction between closely related figures.
2) Major figures of speech (must-know set)
Below are the most commonly tested ones.
A) Simile
Comparison using like/as.
- “Her smile is like the sun.”
B) Metaphor
Direct comparison without like/as.
- “Her smile is the sun.”
C) Personification
Non-human given human attributes.
- “The wind whispered.”
D) Apostrophe
Addressing an absent person/thing/abstract idea.
- “O Death, where is thy sting?”
E) Hyperbole
Exaggeration for effect.
- “I’ve told you a million times.”
F) Litotes
Understatement via negation.
- “Not bad” meaning “good.”
G) Metonymy
Substitution by association.
- “The crown” for monarchy.