What Is Paronomasia? | Definition & Examples

Paronomasia, commonly known as a pun, is a type of wordplay that uses multiple meanings of a word or phrase or homophones for humorous effect (e.g., “I’m reading a book on anti-gravity. I can’t put it down”).

What is paronomasia?

Paronomasia is a literary device that exploits multiple meanings of a word to create humor or provoke thought. It’s considered an interactive form of dialogue because it relies on the audience or readers’ ability to understand and appreciate the double meaning.

Paronomasia is often associated with comedy, so we often hear it used in joke-telling or stand-up comedy. However, it can also be used more generally as an effective tool to add emphasis to both written and spoken language.

Paronomasia is often used in headlines, advertising slogans, and business names as a way to grab attention. For example, a Mediterranean restaurant named “Pita Pan” or a crepe shop called “Planet of the Crepes” are examples of paronomasia.

Paronomasia examples

Paronomasia involves using homonyms, which are words that have a similar pronunciation or spelling but different meanings. Homonym is an umbrella term that includes both homophones and homographs.

Paronomasia sometimes uses homophones, which are words that have the same pronunciation but are spelled differently.

Homographs are words that are spelled the same. Sometimes, they have the same pronunciation (e.g., “bat” as in a flying mammal and piece of baseball equipment), and sometimes, they have different pronunciations (e.g., “lead” as in to guide and a type of metal).

Other types of wordplay

Paronomasia uses wit and wordplay to exploit words with multiple meanings, but there are other types of wordplay that do something similar.

• A double entendre is a word or phrase that has both a literal and figurative interpretation, one of which is sometimes risque or taboo (e.g., “The math teacher called me average. How mean!” Here, “average” and “mean” have the same meaning)
• Malapropism is when you mistakenly use a similar-sounding word in place of the word you meant to say (e.g., “That’s a mute point” instead of “moot”). Malapropisms are often unintentional and can sometimes lead to humorous sentences.
• Paraprosdokian is when the second part of a sentence contains an unexpected turn or twist (e.g., “I used to think I was indecisive, but now I’m not so sure”). In comedy, this is called misdirection, and it is effective because it leads the audience down one path and then subverts their expectations.