What is Figurative Language?

Figurative language is when words or phrases are used in a special way to make writing more interesting or creative. Instead of saying things directly, comparisons, exaggerations or descriptions can be used that give a deeper meaning or create strong pictures in the readers' minds.

Types of Figurative Language

Here are some of the different types of figurative language, each of which can used to make writing more interesting, vivid and creative:

• Simile: A comparison between two things using "like" or "as", e.g. Her hair was as bright as gold.
• Metaphor: A direct comparison where one thing is another (without using "like" or "as"), e.g. The classroom was a zoo (it was noisy and chaotic).
• Personification: Giving human qualities to non-human things, animals or ideas, e.g. The leaves danced in the wind.
• Hyperbole: An extreme exaggeration used for emphasis or effect, e.g. I'm so hungry I could eat a horse!
• Onomatopoeia: Words that sound like the noises they represent, e.g. The bees buzzed around the garden.
• Alliteration: The repetition of the same initial consonant sound in a series of words, e.g. A wild wind whipped through the woods.
• Idiom: A phrase where the meaning is different from the literal meaning of the words, e.g. It's raining cats and dogs (it's raining heavily).
• Oxymoron: A combination of two opposite or contradictory words, e.g. The silence was deafening.
• Pun: A play on words where a word has a double meaning or sounds like another word, e.g. I’m reading a book on anti-gravity. It’s impossible to put down!

If you want to focus on teaching your class about one of these types of figurative language, then you might also be interested in our Personification KS2 Standalone lesson.