Alliteration is a poetic technique in which the initial consonant sounds of words are repeated in close succession. To put it more simply: alliteration is when the beginning sounds of words repeat. It is important to note that alliteration is about the sounds of words, not the letters; therefore, the letter “k” and “c” can be used alliteratively (as in kitchen and cookie), as well as the letter “s” and “c” (as in sparkle and cycle). Also, the words do not need to be directly next to each other in the sentence or stanza to be considered alliterative (although they often are). There is no agreed upon rule governing the distance that alliterative words must share in order for these words to be considered alliteration, but a good guideline to follow is that if you can not detect the repetition of the sounds upon reading the text aloud, then it is unlikely that others would consider the use to be alliterative.
Alliteration
Repeating the same first consonant sounds in a series of words
Here is a list of 101 examples of alliteration in alphabetical order:
- Examples of Alliteration Using the “B” Sound
- 1. Janie read a book by the babbling brook.
- 2. The child bounced the ball at the backyard barbeque.
- 3. The barbarians broke through the barricade.
- 4. He acts silly at times, but he was blessed with a brilliant brain.
- 5. The beautiful bouquet blossomed in the bright sun.
- Examples of Alliteration Using the “C” and “K” Sounds
- 6. When the canary keeled over, the coal miners left the cave.
- 7. The captain couldn’t keep the men in the cabin.
- 8. Erin cooked cupcakes in the kitchen.
- 9. My Cadillac was completely crushed in a car crash.
- 10. The candy was killing my cavity.
- Examples of Alliteration Using the “Ch” Sound
- 11. Despite their mother’s warnings, the children chose to chew with their mouths open.
- 12. The rich man was so cheap that it was chilling.
- 13. The crowd cheered when the champion hit the challenger with a chair.
- 14. We sat around the campfire and chomped on chunks of charred chicken.
- 15. Change the channel.
- Examples of Alliteration Using the “D” Sound
- 16. They would have been on time, if they didn’t dilly-dally.
- 17. He dunked the delicious donut in dairy creamer.
- 18. There is nothing but death in the desert during the day.
- 19. I woke up at school in a slobbery pool; though I used to be dry, now I’m drowning in drool.
- 20. I dreamt of a drip-dropping drain in my dream.
- Examples of Alliteration Using the “F” and “Ph” Sounds
- 21. Your friends will flip-flop fast when facing trouble.
- 22. Our financial future fell into a freefall.
- 23. The stuntman flipped from a forty foot Ferris wheel.
- 24. I forgot my flip phone but felt free.
- 25. That’s the first photo of France from the Moon.
- Examples of Alliteration Using the “G” Sound
- 26. When the tests were distributed, the guys grimaced and groaned.
- 27. The girl grabbed the golden goose and ran.
- 28. Grass grows greener in the graveyard.
- 29. The ghouls and ghosts greeted the gangly goblins.
- 30. I reached under the desk and grabbed the gross gum.
- Examples of Alliteration Using the “H” Sound
- 31. The hummingbirds hovered in heavenly harmony.
- 32. She happily helped the homeless.
- 33. The hecklers hassled the humble harmonica player.
- 34. After Monique dumped Brian, his heart hung heavily.
- 35. Those horses have heavy hooves.
- Examples of Alliteration Using the “J” and “G” Sounds
- 36. The gentle giant jumped in jubilation.
- 37. Juggling jack o’lanterns is my job.
- 38. He jabbed the javelin into the jail cell.
- 39. Jellyfish have germs and jarring toxins.
- 40. The gym was jammed with jelly jars and junk.
- Examples of Alliteration Using the “L” Sound
- 41. Whenever he lied, he lisped a little.
- 42. The lion licked his lips.
- 43. Feeling rather lazy, he laid low in the lounge.
- 44. We lamented the Lord’s lost labor.
- 45. Her love languished in the limelight.
- Examples of Alliteration Using the “M” Sound
- 46. Menacing sounds of mashing metal machines emanated from the mines.
- 47. All of the millionaire’s money only made him more melancholy.
- 48. My mother makes a mouthwatering mincemeat pie.
- 49. There are madmen in the middle of those mountains.
- 50. Most monsters don’t mind making messes.
- Examples of Alliteration Using the “N,” “Gn,” and “Kn” Sounds
- 51. My neighbors are not normally noisy.
- 52. I knew that she’d be a natural at kneading the noodle dough.
- 53. The ninjas gnashed their knives and nailed their targets.
- 54. The newt nuzzled in a narrow nook.
- 55. Mom nabbed her niece by the nape of her neck.
- Examples of Alliteration Using the “P” Sound
- 56. The prince pressed the royal seal on the purple parchment.
- 57. A paper plane passed over my head.
- 58. The parrot perched upon the pirate’s peacoat.
- 59. Sue went to the party and pretended that she was people person.
- 60. The girls played patty-cake on the park bench.
- Examples of Alliteration Using the “R” and “Wr” Sounds
- 61. The red roses were wrapped in ribbons.
- 62. She rarely reads; she’d rather write her own books.
- 63. A radar ring rippled across the monitor.
- 64. Those ravenous research rabbits have gone rabid!
- 65. The reporter wrote about the rebel raid.
- Examples of Alliteration Using the “S” and “C” Sounds
- 66. The snake slithered across the sandy seaside.
- 67. My sassy sister slapped the villain silly.
- 68. That’s the sound of someone sipping soup for supper.
- 69. She sniffed and smelled sage and sassafras.
- 70. Seeking sanctuary, they formed a circle of spears.
- Examples of Alliteration Using the “Sh” Sound
- 71. She should share her sherbert with her sister.
- 72. A shard of shrapnel shaved her shoulder blade.
- 73. The sheep were schlepping shyly by the shark tank.
- 74. He found a shell that even shimmered in the shade.
- 75. The sheriff wore a shiny star shaped shield.
- Examples of Alliteration Using the “St” Sound
- 76. The store clerk stood and stared at me in stupor.
- 77. She stuck the stolen stapler in her suitcase.
- 78. The students threw stones through the stained glass steeple.
- 79. Everything rested on the strength of the steel structure.
- 80. Stern winds strew still waters.
- Examples of Alliteration Using the “T” Sound
- 81. The teacher took the troublemakers’ toys.
- 82. They trounced us in the tried and true tradition.
- 83. The tattle-tale tried to tell the teacher.
- 84. Try the turkey tacos; they’re quite tasty.
- 85. The tornado tossed the trailer like a trash can.
- Examples of Alliteration Using the “V” Sound
- 86. The vapid vixen vented her various vexations.
- 87. Valiance is a virtue often vacant from these vermin.
- 88. We viewed the verdant valleys vaunted vegetation.
- 89. The ventriloquist varied his voice vociferously.
- 90. Her views on vices were vaguely veiled at best.
- Examples of Alliteration Using the “W” Sound
- 91. The wind was whistling through the weeping willows.
- 92. Construction workers whistled at the women.
- 93. We welcomed all the wise men from the West.
- 94. Don’t wage a war of words against the world.
- 95. The waffles worsened while the waiter waited.
- Examples of Alliteration Using the “Y,” “Eu,” and “U” Sounds
- 96. In her youth she yearned to wander yonder Europe.
- 97. I’m used to yelling at you yellowbellies.
- 98. Your usefulness was used up yesterday.
- Examples of Alliteration Using the “Z” and “X” Sound
- 99. My zodiac was zooming toward the zenith.
- 100. The xanthous xenophobes were overzealous.
- 101. The player zipped by the zonal defense and zeroed in on the end zone.