Here you’ll find 21 Literary devices that start with B, organized from “Backhanded compliment” to “Burlesque”. They range from rhetorical moves to performance and tone devices, often concise and memorable. You can use them for analysis, teaching examples, revision notes, or clearer writing choices.
Literary devices that start with B are specific techniques writers use to shape meaning, tone, or effect. Notable examples, like “Burlesque,” trace back to theatrical traditions and satirical poetry.
Below you’ll find the table with Device, Definition, and Example.
Device: The device name helps you locate the entry and match terms to examples in your notes.
Definition: A concise description of how the device works, so you can recognize or teach it in context.
Example: A brief contextual sentence showing the device in use, helping you see how to apply or analyze it.
Literary devices that start with B
| Device | Also called | Device type | Typical purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Backhanded compliment | Left‑handed compliment | tone | Insult veiled as praise |
| Backstory | Background | structure | Provide character or plot context |
| Backward narrative | Reverse chronology | structure | Create mystery or reframe events |
| Badinage | Banter | tone | Lighten mood with playful exchange |
| Bathos | Anticlimax | irony | Produce humor or disappointment through downward shift |
| Bdelygmia | Invective | attack | Express disgust through sustained insults |
| Begging the question | Petitio principii | fallacy | Avoid supporting an argument by restating the premise |
| Beat | Rhythm | rhythm | Control pacing and emphasis in speech or writing |
| Binary opposition | Duality | structure | Highlight themes by contrasting pairs |
| Black humor | Dark comedy | tone | Treat serious subjects with sardonic humor |
| Blackout poetry | Erasure poetry | creative technique | Create new text by removing parts of existing text |
| Blazon | Catalogue of attributes | description | Praise a beloved through detailed listing |
| Blank verse | Unrhymed iambic pentameter | form | Imitate natural speech with elevated rhythm |
| Bob and wheel | Medieval metrical device | form | Conclude stanza with a short pivot line |
| Bombast | Grandiloquence | tone | Impress by inflated, pompous language |
| Brachylogy | Concise expression | conciseness | Create speed or emphasis by omission |
| Brevitas | Brevity | conciseness | Make language pithy and impactful |
| Breaking the fourth wall | Direct address | metafiction | Engage audience or comment on fictionality |
| Broken rhyme | Split rhyme | sound | Disrupt expectations and create surprise |
| Burlesque | Parody/exaggeration | satire | Mock or lampoon by comic exaggeration |
| Bulverism | C.S. Lewis fallacy | fallacy | Dismiss argument by explaining motives, not content |
Descriptions
Backhanded compliment
A remark that seems like praise but contains an insult; e.g., “You’re pretty smart for someone who never finished college,” flatters and disparages at once.
Backstory
Information about a character’s past that explains motives or events; e.g., a novel reveals a protagonist’s childhood trauma to explain current fears.
Backward narrative
A story told in reverse order to reveal causes after effects; e.g., the film Memento presents scenes backward to uncover why events occurred.
Badinage
Witty, teasing conversation between characters used for humor or characterizing relationships; e.g., quick, joking repartee between friends in a comedy.
Bathos
An abrupt fall from the serious or sublime to the trivial for comic or satiric effect; e.g., a tragic speech ending in an absurd, petty complaint.
Bdelygmia
A rhetorical device of violent condemnation or abusive language; e.g., a character’s long tirade calling someone “a lying, rotten fraud” repeatedly.
Begging the question
A logical fallacy where the conclusion is assumed in the premise; e.g., “He’s honest because he always tells the truth” offers no proof beyond restatement.
Beat
A unit of dramatic or poetic rhythm that marks timing or a pause; e.g., a playwright’s “beat” indicates a pause for emotional effect.
Binary opposition
A structural device pairing opposites (good/evil, nature/culture) to create meaning; e.g., many myths set hero vs. villain to frame moral conflict.
Black humor
Humor arising from grim, taboo, or tragic situations to provoke thought or relief; e.g., jokes about death used to critique war.
Blackout poetry
A poetic method where words are blacked out from a page to reveal a poem; e.g., redacting a newspaper article to form a new lyrical statement.
Blazon
A poetic device listing a lover’s physical features or virtues, often idealized; e.g., Renaissance poems itemizing a lover’s eyes, cheeks, hair.
Blank verse
Poetry written in regular meter without rhyme, often used for dramatic or epic tone; e.g., Shakespeare’s plays use blank verse for natural yet heightened dialogue.
Bob and wheel
A short “bob” line followed by a “wheel” of four lines that summarize or comment; e.g., Sir Gawain and the Green Knight ends stanzas with a bob and wheel.
Bombast
Overblown, pretentious diction that overshoots meaning for effect or satire; e.g., a character’s pompous speech full of fancy but empty words.
Brachylogy
A rhetorical figure using extreme brevity or compression of expression; e.g., replying “Need help?” instead of “Do you need any help?”
Brevitas
A rhetorical device valuing short, concentrated expression to sharpen meaning; e.g., a tight epigram that delivers a quick, memorable point.
Breaking the fourth wall
When a character addresses the audience or acknowledges they’re in a story; e.g., a narrator turns to readers to comment on the plot.
Broken rhyme
A rhyme split across a line break or stanza to jar rhythm or emphasize a word; e.g., an unexpected pause breaks a rhyme to highlight a sudden change.
Burlesque
A form or device that treats serious subjects ludicrously or trivial subjects grandly to ridicule; e.g., a parody that turns an epic romance into slapstick.
Bulverism
A rhetorical tactic attacking why someone believes something instead of addressing the argument; e.g., “You say that because you’re rich,” instead of rebutting the claim.