Nineteenth Century novelist Gustav Flaubert coined this term; meaning ‘the right word’. He used to spend weeks choosing le mot juste to use in his writing.
Your style and delivery as a writer convey oodles of historical and cultural meaning. Selecting the right word is an art. With a good command, you will be able to influence your reader without drawing attention to the writing.
Rhetoric is a valuable tool for writers.
Some rhetorical devices and figures of speech
allegory : a story, poem, or picture which can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, e.g. the grim reaper or cupid.
alliteration : the repetition of the same sound beginning several words in sequence, as in Let us go forth to lead the land we love. J. F. Kennedy, Inaugural.
amphilogism : a form of circumlocutory speech used to avoid telling something that might otherwise cause harm, e.g. significant other to avoid revealing too much about relationship status or personal life.
anacoluthon : A grammatical interruption or lack of implied sequence within a sentence, e.g. I warned you, if you played up there, what will happen to you?
anadiplosis : the repetition of the last word of a preceding clause, e.g. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. Yoda, Star Wars.
anaphora : the repetition of a sequence of words at the beginnings of neighbouring clauses, e.g. With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right,...Abraham Lincoln.
anastrophe : an inversion of the natural word order, e.g. smart you are.
antiphrasis : a use of a word or phrase to mean the opposite of its usual sense, like irony, e.g. the dulcet tones of your yelling and banging.
antithesis : the opposition, or contrast of ideas or words in a balanced or parallel construction, e.g. Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more. Brutus in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.
antonomasia : a substitution of an epithet or phrase for a proper name, such as ‘the little corporal’ for Napoleon I. And also ‘The Führer’, ‘The King of Pop’, and ‘Old Blue Eyes’.
aporia : the expression of doubt (often feigned) by which a speaker appears uncertain as to what he should think, say, or do, e.g. I am at a loss where to begin.
apostrophe : a sudden turn from the general audience to address a specific group or person or personified abstraction absent or present, e.g. Where, O death, thy sting? 1 Corinthians 15:55. (compare prosopopoeia)
archaism : the use of an older or obsolete form, e.g. herztian waves for electromagnetic radiation. But also betwixt, hither, nigh, thither etc...
assonance : the repetition of the same sound in words close to each other, e.g. I never seen so many Dominican women with cinnamon tans. Will Smith ‘Miami’.
asyndeton : the lack of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words, e.g. But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address.
bathos : the discovery or expression of humor in a linguistic phrase through some ironic combination of ideas, e.g. The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't. Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
brachylogy : a general term for abbreviated or condensed expression for convenience, also useful in speech writing, e.g. impatient Antony tells a messenger ‘Grates me; the sum,’ for this is annoying me; get to the point. Shakepeare’s Antony and Cleopatra.
Bushism : e.g. ‘Arbolist … Look up the word. I don't know, maybe I made it up. Anyway, it's an arbo-tree-ist, somebody who knows about trees. George W. Bush, as quoted in USA Today, Aug. 21, 2001. He was trying to say ‘arborist’ meaning tree surgeon.
cacophemism : another term for dysphemism.
catachresis : the incorrect use of a word, especially the mixed metaphor, e.g. Can't you hear that? Are you blind? and also the malapropism, e.g. Her plans didn't jive with his ambitions. Should be jibe, meaning 'coincide' not jive, meaning 'deceive'.
chiasmus : two corresponding pairs arranged not in parallels (a-b-a-b) but in inverted order (a-b-b-a) e.g. By day the frolic, and the dance by night. Samuel Johnson.
circumlocution : an ambiguous or roundabout figure of speech, using many words to describe something simple, e.g. elongated yellow fruit for banana.
cledonism : the use of circumlocution to avoid saying unlucky words, e.g. calling the devil old nick or saying baker’s dozen instead of thirteen.
climax : arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses in an order of ascending power, often in parallel construction, e.g. I think we've reached a point of great decision, not just for our nation, not only for all humanity, but for life upon the earth. George Wald.
colloquialism : informal, relaxed speech including contractions, e.g. you’re and don’t, and kids, mum, buddy.
diacope : the repetition of a word or phrase broken up by other words or phrases, e.g. ‘And now, my beauties, something with poison in it, I think. With poison in it, but attractive to the eye and soothing to the smell.’ The Wicked Witch of the West, The Wizard of Oz, 1939.
dysphemism : using intentionally harsh words or expressions instead of polite ones; opposite of euphemism, e.g. We want no parlay with you and your grisly gang who work your wicked will. W. Churchill.
echoism : the formation of words by imitating sounds, e.g. untz.. untz.. untz..
ellipsis : a mark or series of marks that usually indicate an intentional omission of a word in the original text, e.g. … (dot dot dot), also to indicate a pause, an unfinished thought, a melancholy longing.
enallage : the substitution of one grammatical form for another (possibly incorrect) one, e.g. The idols are broke in the temple of Baal. Byron.
epanalepsis : the repetition of the initial word (or words) of a clause or sentence at the end of that same clause or sentence, e.g. The king is dead, long live the king.
epanorthosis : emphatic word replacement, particularly immediate and emphatic self-correction, e.g. Sigmund Fraud – Er—Freud, I mean!
epiphora : the repetition of the same word or words at the end of successive phrases, clauses or sentences, e.g. Where affections bear rule, there reason is subdued, honesty is subdued, good will is subdued… Thomas Wilson.
epistrophe : another term for epiphora.
epizeuxis : the repetition of words in immediate succession, for vehemence or emphasis, e.g. Scotch, scotch, scotch, scotchy, scotchy scotch." Ron Burgundy in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.
euphemism : a substitution for an expression that may offend or suggest something unpleasant to the receiver, e.g. full figured for fat, and senior for old.
euphony : inherent pleasantness of the sound of certain words or phrases also known as phonoaesthetics, e.g. cellar door.
euphuism : an artificial, highly elaborate way of writing or speaking. Deliberate excesses marked by excessive use of balance, antithesis, and alliteration and by frequent use of similes drawn from mythology and nature.
equivocation : the use of circumlocution to deceive others without blatantly lying. The misleading use of a term with more than one meaning or sense, e.g. with puns, syllogism (A feather is light. What is light cannot be dark. Therefore, a feather cannot be dark.), semantic shift (Do women need to worry about man-eating sharks?), metaphor (All jackasses have long ears. Carl is a jackass. Therefore, Carl has long ears.), and switch referencing (Margarine is better than nothing. Nothing is better than butter. Therefore, margarine is better than butter.)
hendiadys : the expression of a single idea by two words connected with ‘and’, e.g. nice and warm, when one could be used to modify the other, as in nicely warm.
homeoteleuton : is the repetition of endings in words, e.g. with the adverbs in ‘The waters rose rapidly and I dove under quickly.’
hypallage : transposition of the natural relation of two elements in a proposition, e.g. Angela shook her doubtful curls.
hyperbaton : inversion of the normal order of words, especially for emphasis, e.g. this I must see.
hyperbole : deliberate exaggeration, not meant to be taken literally, e.g. The bag weighed a ton.
hysteron proteron : a figure of speech in which the natural order of elements is reversed. The goal is to call attention to the more important idea by placing it first, e.g. Let us die, and charge into the thick of the fight. Virgil.
innuendo : an allusive or oblique remark, typically suggestive or disparaging (often sexual), e.g. We need to go deeper.
irony : the expression of meaning through the use of language signifying the opposite, typically for humorous effect, e.g. saying ‘What a nice day!' when it is raining.
isocolon : the reinforcement of parallelism where words are the same length, e.g. ‘Veni, vidi, vici’, (I came, I saw, I conquered) Julius Caesar.
jargon : words or expressions (such as initialisms) used by a particular profession or group that are difficult for others to understand, e.g. cookie and firewall when dealing with computers, and ‘programmatic specificity’ Kevin Rudd.
litotes : the ironical understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its opposite, e.g I shan’t be sorry for I shall be glad.
malapropism : the mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one, e.g. dance a flamingo for flamenco.
meiosis : another term for litotes
metaphor : a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable, a thing regarded as symbolic of something else, e.g. All the world’s a stage... Shakespeare.
metonymy : a word or expression used as a substitute for something with which it is closely associated, e.g. Washington for the US government, The city that never sleeps for New York.
mondegreen : the misinterpretation of a phrase as a result of near homophony in a way that gives it new meaning, often in poetry or song, e.g. 'Scuse me while I kiss this guy’ for ‘Scuse me while I kiss the sky’ in Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix.
onomatopoeia : the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named, e.g sizzle.
oxymoron : a figure of speech or expressed idea in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction e.g. open secret, virtual reality.
paradox : a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that may in fact be true, e.g. this statement is false. And Oscar Wilde’s I can resist anything but temptation.
paralipsis : invoking a subject by denying that it should be invoked, e.g. politically, ‘I don’t even want to talk about the allegations that my opponent is a drunk.’
paronomasia : another term for pun.
paraprosdokian: surprise or unexpected ending of a phrase or series e.g. She looks as though she's been poured into her clothes, and forgot to say 'when'. P.G. Wodehouse.
periphrasis : the use of separate words to express a grammatical relationship that is otherwise expressed by inflection, e.g. did go instead of went.
personification : a metaphor in which a thing or abstraction is represented as a person, e.g. when opportunity knocks or this stone is laughing at me.
pleonasm : the use of more words or word-parts than is necessary for clear expression (redundancy), a manifestation of tautology e.g. a burning fire, safe haven, tuna fish, but also ‘ears pierced while you wait’.
prolepsis : the anticipatory referral to a future event, e.g. saying I’m a dead man after failing to do a duty.
prosopopoeia : a rhetorical device in which a speaker or writer communicates to the audience by speaking as another person or object. (compare apostrophe)
pun : the form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, e.g. ‘Atheism is a non-prophet institution’, George Carlin, and ‘Speaking in Ruddles’, referring to Kevin Rudd and jargon.
rhetorical question : a question posed for its persuasive effect without the expectation of a reply, e.g. ‘How long shall they kill our prophets
While we stand aside and look?’ Bob Marley, Redemption Song
sarcasm : in spoken language, a sharp, bitter, or cutting expression or remark, often involving irony, and reliant of vocal inflection, e.g. ‘Don’t work too hard,’ to a lazy employee.
simile : comparing two different things with ‘like’, ‘as’ or ‘than’, e.g. slept like a dog, as fit as a fiddle, larger than life.
slang : different to colloquialism, informal words and expressions used by specific social groups (teenagers, soldiers, prisoners), e.g. wack, stoked, chick, shorty, my bad, da bomb.
spoonerism : error in speech or deliberate play on words in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are switched, e.g. a nosey little cook for a cozy little nook.
syllepsis : a particular type of zeugma in which the clauses disagree in either meaning or grammar, e.g. When he asked "What in Heaven?" she made no reply,
Up her mind, and a dash for the door.
syllogism : a form of reasoning in which the conclusion is drawn from two given or assumed premises, e.g. All men are mortal. All Greeks are men. All Greeks are mortal. An enthymeme is an abbreviated syllogism: "Does this place look like I'm ... married? The toilet seat's up, man!" The Dude in The Big Lebowski, 1998.
symploce : the combination of anaphora and epistrophe, a word or phrase is used successively at the beginning of two or more clauses or sentences and another word or phrase is used successively at the end of the same, e.g. When there is talk of hatred, let us stand up and talk against it. When there is talk of violence, let us stand up and talk against it. Bill Clinton.
synecdoche : understanding one thing with another; the use of a part for the whole, or the whole for the part, e.g. ride or wheels for vehicle, bug for insect or arachnid, band-aid for adhesive bandage, threads for clothing.
tautology : the unnecessary repetition within a statement of the same thing in different words, e.g. faster speed and short summary.
transferred epithet : the modifier, usually an adjective, is applied to the ‘wrong’ word in the sentence, e.g. [Peggotty] rubs everything that can be rubbed, until it shines, like her own honest forehead, with perpetual friction. Charles Dickens, David Copperfield
trope : a figurative or metaphorical use of a word or expression.
weasel word : a modifying word that undermines or contradicts the meaning of the word, phrase, or clause it accompanies, such as ‘genuine replica.’
zeugma : a figure of speech in which a word applies to two others in different senses, e.g The farmers in the valley grew potatoes, peanuts, and bored.