This list includes 33 Literary devices that start with S, from “Sarcasm” to “Synesthesia”. These devices often rely on sound, image, contrast, or rhetorical move and appear across poetry, prose, and drama. You can use them for study, teaching, writing, and close reading. Printable handouts and links to the A–Z hub are available to support classroom use.
Literary devices that start with S are recognized techniques and terms beginning with S that shape meaning and effect. Many trace back to classical rhetoric, and some, like “stream of consciousness,” became prominent in early twentieth-century fiction.
Below you’ll find the table with Device, Definition, and Example.
Device: The literary term listed alphabetically, so you can quickly find the specific device you want to study or teach.
Definition: A concise description of the device, giving you clear function and identifying features for classroom or writing use.
Example: A brief contextual sentence showing the device in use, helping you recognize it in texts and practice applying it.
Literary devices that start with S
| Device | Also called | Type | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sarcasm | Verbal irony | Figure of speech | Oh, great. Another meeting. I’m so thrilled. |
| Satire | N/A | Genre or mode | A Modest Proposal suggests eating babies to solve poverty. |
| Scansion | Scanning | Poetic analysis | Marking stressed and unstressed syllables in a line. |
| Scene | N/A | Narrative structure | The balcony scene in “Romeo and Juliet”. |
| Sententia | Maxim, aphorism | Rhetorical device | A man’s as miserable as he thinks he is. |
| Setting | N/A | Narrative element | A dark and stormy night in a gothic novel. |
| Sibilance | N/A | Sound device | The snake slithered silently across the sand. |
| Simile | N/A | Figure of speech | Her smile was as bright as the sun. |
| Slant Rhyme | Half rhyme, near rhyme, imperfect rhyme | Poetic device | Rhyming “shape” with “keep”. |
| Solecism | N/A | Rhetorical device | We was going to the store. (deliberate use) |
| Soliloquy | N/A | Dramatic device | Hamlet’s “To be, or not to be” speech. |
| Sonnet | N/A | Poetic form | Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 (“Shall I compare thee…”). |
| Spondee | Spondaic foot | Metrical foot | The word “heartbreak” (two stressed syllables). |
| Spoonerism | N/A | Figure of speech | You have hissed all my mystery lectures. |
| Spenserian Stanza | N/A | Poetic form | A nine-line stanza with rhyme scheme ABABBCBCC. |
| Sprung Rhythm | N/A | Poetic meter | Glory be to God for dappled things. |
| Stanza | Verse | Structural unit | A four-line quatrain in a ballad. |
| Stereotype | Stock character, archetype | Character trope | The “damsel in distress” or the “mad scientist”. |
| Stichomythia | N/A | Dramatic device | Quick, one-line exchanges between two characters. |
| Stream of Consciousness | Interior monologue | Narrative technique | Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway”. |
| Stress | Accent | Poetic meter element | The first syllable in “PO-em” is stressed. |
| Strophe | N/A | Structural unit | The first section of an ode in Greek tragedy. |
| Style | Authorial voice | Authorial technique | Hemingway’s sparse prose vs. Faulkner’s long sentences. |
| Subplot | B-story, minor plot | Narrative structure | The love story of Ophelia and Hamlet in “Hamlet”. |
| Subtext | N/A | Narrative element | A character says “I’m fine” but their tone implies sadness. |
| Suspense | N/A | Narrative device | A ticking bomb in a thriller scene. |
| Syllogism | Logical appeal | Rhetorical device | All men are mortal. Socrates is a man. Therefore… |
| Syllepsis | Zeugma (often used interchangeably) | Figure of speech | She broke his car and his heart. |
| Symbolism | N/A | Literary device | A dove representing peace or a red rose for love. |
| Symploce | N/A | Figure of repetition | The madman is not the man who has lost his reason. |
| Syncope | N/A | Poetic device | Using “o’er” instead of “over”. |
| Synecdoche | N/A | Figure of speech | All hands on deck (hands representing sailors). |
| Synesthesia | N/A | Figure of speech | The music was a bright blue. |
Descriptions
Sarcasm
The use of ironic or mocking language to convey contempt or ridicule. The intended meaning is the opposite of the literal meaning, often signaled by tone.
Satire
The use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize foolishness or corruption, particularly in politics and social issues.
Scansion
The process of analyzing a poem’s meter and rhythm by marking syllables as stressed or unstressed and identifying the pattern of poetic feet.
Scene
A division within a story or play where the action takes place in a single location without a break in time.
Sententia
A brief, witty, and popular saying used to sum up an argument or express a general truth, often with a moralizing tone.
Setting
The time, place, and social environment in which a story takes place. Setting influences mood, plot, and character development.
Sibilance
A type of alliteration where soft consonant sounds like /s/ or /sh/ are repeated to create a hissing or whispering effect.
Simile
A direct comparison between two unlike things using connecting words such as “like,” “as,” or “than” to highlight a specific quality.
Slant Rhyme
A rhyme in which the stressed syllables of ending consonants match, but the preceding vowel sounds do not, creating a subtle, dissonant effect.
Solecism
A deliberate grammatical mistake or awkward phrasing used to portray a character’s lack of education, create a specific voice, or for comedic effect.
Soliloquy
A speech in a play where a character, alone on stage, speaks their innermost thoughts aloud, giving the audience insight into their mind and motives.
Sonnet
A 14-line poem, typically written in iambic pentameter with a specific rhyme scheme. Common types include Shakespearean and Petrarchan sonnets.
Spondee
A metrical foot in poetry consisting of two consecutive stressed syllables (STRESSED/STRESSED), used for emphasis and to vary poetic rhythm.
Spoonerism
An error in speech or a deliberate play on words where initial sounds of two or more words are swapped, often with humorous results.
Spenserian Stanza
A fixed verse form consisting of nine lines. The first eight are in iambic pentameter, and the final line is a longer alexandrine (iambic hexameter).
Sprung Rhythm
A poetic rhythm created by Gerard Manley Hopkins to imitate natural speech. Each foot begins with a stressed syllable followed by a varied number of unstressed syllables.
Stanza
A group of lines forming the basic recurring metrical unit in a poem. Stanzas are the “paragraphs” of poetry, often separated by a blank line.
Stereotype
An oversimplified and widely held image or idea of a particular type of person. In literature, it refers to a character who conforms to a fixed, unoriginal pattern.
Stichomythia
A dramatic technique featuring a verbal duel where two characters exchange short, alternating lines of dialogue, creating a tense and fast-paced rhythm.
Stream of Consciousness
A narrative mode that depicts the continuous flow of thoughts, feelings, and sensations passing through a character’s mind, often in a disjointed or ungrammatical way.
Stress
The emphasis that falls on certain syllables in a line of verse. The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables creates the poem’s rhythm and meter.
Strophe
A group of lines forming a unit in a poem or drama, similar to a stanza. In classical odes, it’s the first part of a structural triad.
Style
The distinctive way an author uses language, created through a combination of diction, syntax, tone, and other literary devices.
Subplot
A secondary plot or storyline that coexists with the main story. It often supports the main plot by adding complexity, depth, or thematic contrast.
Subtext
The implicit or unspoken meaning, motive, or theme in a literary work. It is what is not said directly but is understood by the reader through context or nuance.
Suspense
A feeling of anticipation, excitement, or anxiety that an author creates to make the reader eager to find out what happens next in the story.
Syllogism
A form of deductive reasoning where a conclusion is drawn from two assumed propositions (premises). It is used to create a logical and persuasive argument.
Syllepsis
A figure of speech in which a word (usually a verb) is applied to two others in different senses, one literal and one figurative.
Symbolism
The use of symbols—objects, people, or ideas—to signify ideas and qualities by giving them meanings that are different from their literal sense.
Symploce
Repeating a word at the beginning of successive clauses and another word at the end of those same clauses, combining anaphora and epistrophe.
Syncope
The shortening of a word by omitting a middle letter or syllable. In poetry, this is often done to maintain a specific meter or rhythm.
Synecdoche
A figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa. It allows a writer to refer to a complex entity with a single word.
Synesthesia
A technique where an author presents ideas or images in such a way that they appeal to more than one sense at a time, blending sensory experiences.