Synonyms and antonyms of Types of word or phrase in British Thesaurus

acrostic (noun)

a number of lines of writing, for example a poem or a word puzzle, in which particular letters from each line form a word or phrase

adjacency pair (noun)

a sequence of two turns in conversation such as a question and an answer, where the first item leads to the second

Americanism (noun)

a word or phrase used in US English

anagram (noun)

a word or phrase that you can make from another word or phrase by putting the letters in a different order. For example ‘mean’ is an anagram of ‘name’.

anglicism (noun)

a word that is used in British English but not in other types of English

anglicism (noun)

an English word that is used in another language

archaism (noun)

an old word or phrase that is no longer used

borrowing (noun)

linguistics a word or phrase that comes from another language

calque (noun)

a word or expression used in a language that has been translated from another language

catch-all (noun)

a word, phrase, or group that includes a lot of different things

chant (noun)

a word or phrase that people keep shouting or singing many times

chiasmus (noun)

a statement in which you repeat a phrase in a sentence but with the words in the opposite order. For example ’some people eat to live, and others live to eat’.

clue (noun)

a word or phrase that helps you to guess another word or phrase

coinage (noun)

a word or phrase that has recently been used for the first time

colloquialism (noun)

a colloquial word or expression

context (noun)

the words surrounding a particular word that help to give it its meaning

double entendre (noun)

a word or phrase that you use deliberately, knowing that it has two meanings, one of which is usually rude or funny because it refers to sex

double negative (noun)

a sentence in which two negative words such as ‘not’, ‘don’t’, or ‘no one’ are used when only one would be correct, for example in the sentence ‘I don’t want no dinner.’

endearment (noun)

a word or phrase that you say to someone you love, for example darling or sweetheart

epithet (noun)

a word or phrase that describes the main quality of someone or something

euphemism (noun)

a word or expression that people use when they want to talk about something unpleasant or embarrassing without mentioning the thing itself

exclamation (noun)

something that you say suddenly and loudly because you are surprised, impressed, angry etc

expression (noun)

a word or phrase

filler (noun)

linguistics something someone says, for example 'erm', 'well', or 'sort of', to fill a pause while speaking; also called a pause filler

functional exponent (noun)

a piece of language that is used to perform a language function. For example, 'Can you...' and 'Would you mind...' are functional exponents used for making requests.

heading (noun)

a word or phrase that gives a general description of a type of person or thing

incantation (noun)

words that are repeated together several times because they are thought to have special power

incantation (noun)

the activity of saying these words

interrogative (adjective)

linguistics an interrogative word or phrase is one that you use for asking a question

jargon (noun)

showing disapproval special words and phrases that are only understood by people who do the same kind of work

label (noun)

a word or phrase that is used to describe someone or something, especially one that is not completely fair or true

leitmotif (noun)

a word, phrase, or idea that is repeated several times in something such as a speech or book and is important for understanding the speech or book correctly

mantra (noun)

something repeated again and again

metaphor (noun)

literature a word or phrase that means one thing and is used for referring to another thing in order to emphasize their similar qualities

mixed metaphor (noun)

a combination of metaphors that sounds silly because it creates a strange image in your mind

mnemonic (noun)

a sentence or short poem that you use for helping you to remember something

mouthful (noun)

informal a word or phrase that is very long or hard to pronounce

neologism (noun)

a new word or expression, or an existing word used with a new meaning

onomatopoeia (noun)

the use of words such as ‘buzz’ and ‘thud’ that sound like the sound which they refer to

palindrome (noun)

a word or phrase that is the same whether you read it forwards or backwards, such as ‘noon’ or ‘not a ton’

parenthesis (noun)

a word, phrase, or sentence that is not directly related to what you are saying or writing but is added to give more information

password (noun)

a secret word or phrase that you need in order to get into a room, building, or area

pause filler (noun)

something someone says, for example 'erm', 'well', or 'sort of', to fill a pause while speaking. Pause fillers are also called fillers.

rallying cry (noun)

a particular word or phrase that you use for referring to an issue or situation in order to make people want to take action

reference (noun)

a word or phrase that comes from a book or a poem

salutation (noun)

a standard word or phrase that is used at the beginning of a letter, for example ‘Dear Sirs’ or ‘Dear Julia’

simile (noun)

a phrase that describes something by comparing it to something else using the word ‘like’ or ‘as’, for example ‘He eats like a pig’

slang (noun)

words or expressions that are very informal and are not considered suitable for more formal situations. Some slang is used only by a particular group of people

the spoken word (noun)

formal things that people say, not things that they write

superlative (noun)

an expression or word used for saying that something is extremely good

sweet nothings (noun)

romantic words

synecdoche (noun)

the use of a word or phrase, when a part of something is used in order to refer to the whole of it. For example, you can use the word ‘wheels’ to mean a car.

tag (noun)

informal a name or phrase that is used as a way of describing someone

term (noun)

a word or phrase used for referring to something

term (noun)

a word or phrase used as a name or for describing someone

tmesis (noun)

the separation of a word or phrase into two parts, with another word being said between it, used mainly in informal speech for emphasis, for example ’any old how’, in which the word ’old’ comes in the middle of the word ’anyhow’

tongue twister (noun)

a word or phrase that is difficult to say because it contains many difficult sounds, especially ones that are very similar

translation (noun)

a word or phrase that means the same thing as a word or phrase in a different language

utterance (noun)

linguistics a word or phrase that someone speaks

watchword (noun)

a word or phrase that expresses someone’s attitude or intention

wh-question (noun)

a question that begins with any of the words ‘who’, ‘where’, ‘when’, ‘what’, ‘why’, or ‘how’

words (noun)

someone’s words are things that they say

zeugma (noun)

the use of a single word in relation to two other parts of a sentence although grammatically or logically the word applies to only one of them. The sentence ‘She went home in a taxi and a bad mood’ is an example of zeugma.