Terms is a comprehensive dictionary of literary terms. Entries include literary techniques, genres, and historical periods. The entries are drawn from a wide variety of sources, including George G. Loane's A Short Handbook of Literary Terms, an early twentieth century reference work which contains informative (and often humourous) information on a variety of literary techniques, with a wealth of examples from classic poetry. Other entries are composed by our volunteer Experts, and compiled by our Editorial Team. For easy reference, terms are hyperlinked from content on the site. For reviews of other dictionaries of literary terms on the internet, see the Literary Theory category of our Directory.

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |


A

abstract for concrete
accent
alexandrine
alienation
allegory
alliteration
ambiguity
amplification
anaeoluthon
anapaest
anticlimax
antithesis
aphorism
apologue
aposiopesis
apostrophe
archaism
assonance
attic
Augustan



B

ballad
ballad metre
bathos
Bildungsroman
blank verse
bombast
bucolic
burlesque



C

caesura
catch
chlasmus
classical
cliche
climax
Cockney school
conceit
correctness
correlative verse
criticism



D

dactyl
dialect
dialogue
Didactic Peotry
diphthong
Doggerel
Doric
drama
dystopia



E

Elegiac Stanza
Elegy
Elision
Ellipse
Enjambment
Epic
Epigram
epilogue
epitaph
Epithet
Essay
Ethic Dative
Euphemism
Euphony
Euphuism
Expletives



F

Fable
feminine caesura
feminine ending
figurative
figures of speech
Foot
Fourteener



G

General
Genitive
Greek drama
Grub Street



H

hello
Hemistich
Hendiadys
Heroic
hexameters
Hiatus
humour
Hyperbole
Hysteron proteron
hysteron proteron



I

Iamb
Idyll
Impersonal Construction
incremental repetition
index librorum prohibitorum
Innuendo
Inversion
Irony



J




K

Kailyard School



L

Lake School
Leonine Verses
Limerick
literati
Litotes
Lyric



M

Machinery
Madrigal
Marcaronic
Masques
Meiosis
Metaphor
Metaphysical Poets
Metonymy
Mock-heroic
Monosyllables
mumblage
Muse



N

Narrative Poetry
Nominative Absolute
Nonsense Verses
novel



O

Octosyllabics
Ode
Onomatopoeia
oxymoron



P

Parable
Paradox
Parody
Paronomasia
particles
Pastiche
Pastoral Poetry
Pathetic Fallacy
pause
Pedantesque
Pegasus
Pentameter
Period
Periphrasis
Personification
Picaresque
Pindaric Ode
Plagiarism
play
Pleonasm
Poetic License
Poetry, forms of
Precious
Pre-Raphaelitism
Prolepsis
Pyrrhic



Q

Quantity
quarto
Quatrain



R

Refrain
relativism
Repetition
Rhetoric
Rhyme
Rhyme Royal
Rhythm
Romance
Romantic



S

Sarcasm
Satanic School
Satire
scansion
sigmatism
Simile
Slang
Solecism
Sonnet
spenserian stanza
Spondee
Spoonerisms
Stanza
stichomythia
style
Syllepsis
Syncedoe
Synonym



T

taste
technical terms
tragedy
Transferred Epithet
Tribrach
Triplet
trochee



U

Unities, Dramatic
utopia



V




W

Wardour-Street English
wit



X




Y




Z

zeitgeist
zeugma
zeugma