Alliteration — Definition, Use, and Examples

Written by

Daniel Bal

February 13, 2024

Edited by

Courtney Adamo

Fact-checked by

Paul Mazzola

What is alliteration?

Alliteration is a literary device that occurs when two or more words located closely together have the same initial consonant sound.

However, the words do not need to start with the same letter, as different consonants can create the same sound:

While “c” and “k” are different consonants, they can create the same initial sound.

For a phrase or sentence to be considered alliterative, the words with the repeated sound must be positioned close to one another. Too many words with different sounds can lessen the impact of alliteration.

Alliteration may also be called head rhyme or initial rhyme.

Why is alliteration used?

Alliteration serves to create rhythm, emphasis, and tone/mood:

• Rhythm: Repeating the same initial sound helps create a certain rhythm, especially with poetry where the poet uses a rhyme and meter to pace their work. Alliteration allows writers to either speed the reader up or slow the reader down depending on the sounds they repeat in a given line.

• Emphasis: Writers often incorporate alliteration to showcase the ideas’ importance. The repetition of certain sounds at the beginning of words focuses the reader’s attention on those particular words.

• Tone/Mood: Writers can incorporate the sounds of words to create a specific atmosphere. The sounds generated by the letters “s” or “q” at the start of a word are often pleasant and lead to a calming mood, whereas hard sounds created by “k” and “ch” are often harsh and can produce a threatening tone.

Alliteration, consonance, and assonance

Alliteration, consonance, and assonance are all devices that emphasize the repetition of sounds among two or more words. The differences revolve around the location of the sound and the repeated letter(s).

Alliteration: Repetition of initial sounds.

Consonance: The repetition of consonant sounds at the end of stressed syllables. With consonance, the repeated sound can occur anywhere in a word.

Assonance: Repetition of vowel sounds usually on stressed syllables. Assonance often creates internal rhyme, such as “rake” and “lake.”

Alliteration examples

Well-known examples of alliteration can be found in nursery rhymes, brand names, famous phrases, and fictional characters.

Nursery Rhymes

• Hickory, dickory, dock, / The mouse ran up the clock. / The clock struck one, / The mouse ran down, / Hickory, dickory, dock.

• Jack be nimble, Jack be quick. / Jack jump over the candlestick. / Jack jumped high. Jack jumped low. / Jack jumped over, and burned his toe!

• Row, row, row your boat / gently down the stream. / Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, / life is but a dream.

Tongue Twisters

• Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.

• Sally sells seashells by the seashore.

• How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Brand Names & Business Names

• Bed, Bath, and Beyond

• Coca-Cola

• Dunkin' Donuts

Fictional Character Names

• Bugs Bunny

• Mickey Mouse

• SpongeBob SquarePants

Famous Phrases

• Busy as a bee

• Right as rain

• Pleased as punch

Alliteration examples in poetry

Poets often use alliteration as a poetic device. The following lines of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" incorporate the use of alliteration:

Here is an example of Robert Frost's "Birches":

Alliteration examples in literature

While writers primarily use alliteration in poetry, the following literary works use alliteration:

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald