When you say that someone has “made a mountain out of a molehill,” odds are you aren’t referring to an actual mountain and molehill.
People don’t use this phrase for its literal meaning. Rather, it’s an example of figurative language, common expressions that extend the English language to describe things in unconventional ways. From metaphors to extreme exaggeration, figurative language represents the fun side of words and turns of phrase. As a marketer or business owner, you can use figurative language to add depth to your customer communications—potentially engaging shoppers in ways that literal language cannot.
Here’s a primer on the different types of figurative language, with tips for incorporating them into your everyday communication.
What is figurative language?
Figurative language is the use of words, phrases, or expressions with meanings that go beyond their literal interpretation. Figurative language examples include metaphors (e.g., “that running back is a machine”), similes (e.g., “John Henry was like a steam train”), idioms (e.g., “it’s raining cats and dogs”), and personification (e.g., “the sky wept”).
Some mistakenly believe figurative language is just for sophisticated literature and poetry. In reality, figurative language is a constant. We often incorporate many types of figurative language into our everyday speech and writing—sometimes without even realizing it.
Figurative language is a key component of a marketing copywriter’s toolkit, as it can help brand communications feel true to life. A well-placed figure of speech or metaphor might help you establish your brand personality, tap into customer emotions, and create memorable website copy that lingers in your reader’s mind.
Types of figurative language
Figurative language helps you break down complex ideas, convey emotion, and seed vivid imagery. Here are some of the most common types of figurative language, along with examples and applications in ecommerce copywriting:
Simile
A simile makes a direct comparison between two things with the words “like” or “as.” Similes can help listeners or readers visualize a person, animal, or object—or even an emotion—by linking it to something familiar.
Example: The Scottish poet Robert Burns famously wrote, "My love is like a red, red rose / That’s newly sprung in June." The concept of love is compared to a living thing, which is both alluring and ephemeral.
Metaphor
Like a simile, a metaphor compares two unlike things, but it does so by directly stating that one thing is another. This means that metaphors do not involve the words “like” or “as.”
Example:“Her voice was music, sweetly played.” This expression directly equates a person’s voice with music, prompting ideas about how beautiful the voice must sound.
Idiom
Idioms are expressions whose meanings are not literally understood from the words used. They’re native to specific languages and rarely translate well to other languages due to their lack of literal meaning.
Classic example: “Break a leg tonight!” This is a common expression of encouragement to a stage actor. Does the speaker want the actor to literally break their leg? Certainly not. However, the idiom has existed for decades, and it is widely understood to mean “have a great performance,” even though none of the words refer to stage acting.
Marketing copywriting example: ButcherBox uses the common English idiom “cutting corners” to describe a practice where someone does a less-than-thorough job to hurry through a task. It uses the figure of speech to emphasize its painstaking, ethical practices.
Personification
Personification is the attribution of human characteristics or qualities to non-human objects or non-sentient beings. It’s one of the most commonly used examples of figurative language—especially in a marketing context—as it brings a product to life.
Classic example: “The alarm clock rudely awoke the students in their dorm room.” Only sentient beings can be rude, but by ascribing rudeness to a clock, we can better understand the feeling of being jolted awake.
Marketing copywriting example: Negative Underwear deploys two types of figurative language in one phrase. The phrase “checks all the boxes” is a figure of speech for a person—often a romantic partner—who appears to have everything. Most people don’t have a literal checklist of qualities they look for in a partner, but the image of checking all the boxes evokes a completed checklist. A bra, of course, isn’t a person who can check boxes. The point is that the bra has everything you could be looking for.
Hyperbole
Hyperbole is an intentional exaggeration used to emphasize a point or evoke intense imagery.
Classic example: “I’ve told you a million times not to leave your shoes there!” The speaker hasn’t literally said it a million times, but nonetheless uses this form of exaggeration to show frustration.
Marketing copywriting example: Diaspora Co. isn’t a cult; it’s a purveyor of fair-trade spices. But the brand nonetheless uses the phrase “cult fave” to describe an object it sells on its ecommerce website. The implication is that the salt tiger is very popular, and the hyperbolic language hammers the point home.
Synecdoche
Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a part refers to the whole. It allows for fewer words to convey a larger meaning.
Example: “The baseball team has some promising arms in the minor leagues.” This expression refers to baseball pitchers. They obviously have full bodies, not just arms, but by referring to “arms,” we quickly get the sense that the speaker is referring to pitchers, rather than position players.
Metonymy
Metonymy is a figure of speech in which you call a thing or concept by the name of something closely associated with it, rather than by its direct name.
Example: “The White House announced it had brokered a peace treaty.” The White House is a building and, like any inanimate object, a building cannot negotiate treaties. Rather, the phrase “White House” refers to the president and members of their administration.
Figurative language FAQ
What are the types of figurative language?
The following types of figurative language are quite common among English speakers: simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, idioms, metonymy, and synecdoche.
What’s an example of figurative language?
An example of figurative language is using the idiom “hit the nail on the head” to describe a person who very accurately assessed a situation.
Why use figurative language?
Many people use figurative language to express themselves memorably. They aim to have their words stick in their audience’s mind, and they presume that figurative language may accomplish this more reliably than literal language would.
