Definitions

synecdoche

[si-nek-duh-kee] / sɪˈnɛk də ki /

NOUN

figure of speech

Synonyms

WEAK

adumbration allegory alliteration allusion analogue analogy anaphora anticlimax antistrophe antithesis aposiopesis apostrophe asyndeton bathos comparison conceit device echoism ellipsis euphemism euphuism exaggeration expression flourish flower hyperbole image imagery irony litotes malapropism manner of speaking metaphor metonymy onomatopoeia ornament oxymoron parable paradox parallel personification proteron rhetoric sarcasm satire simile stylistic device trope tropology turn of phrase understatement way of speaking

Example Sentences

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See Examples For:

synecdoche synecdoches

The near-perfect overlay of the religious image with a political image is a visual synecdoche for the Revolution’s replacement of Christianity with the cults of Nature and Reason.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 21, 2025

In Darlington’s Devon neighborhood, the synecdoche for global habitat destruction is the arrival of a sign in a soon-to-be-former farm field: “Site Acquired for Development.”

From Washington Post ● Feb. 6, 2023

Baseball is practically a synecdoche for summer—the season of shared, relaxing stillness in the sun.

From Slate ● May 22, 2020

The home, a nation unto itself, falls easily into the pitfalls of synecdoche.

From Salon ● Mar. 21, 2020

Those founded on contiguity are metonymy, synecdoche, exclamation, hyperbole, apostrophe, and vision.

From Elementary Guide to Literary Criticism by F. V. N. (Franklin Verzelius Newton) Painter

Their fame has not eclipsed other injustices in Russia but highlighted them, in the tradition of opposition movements strategically promoting charismatic individuals, from Nelson Mandela to Ai Wei Wei, as synecdoches for an entire cause.

From The Guardian ● Dec. 20, 2012

Vocabulary lists containing synecdoche

Poetry: Literary Devices

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Rhetoric

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The AP English Exam: Rhetorical and Literary Terms 4

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