Auxesis (ok-see’-sis): (1) Arranging words or clauses in a sequence of increasing force. In this sense, auxesis is comparable to climax and has sometimes been called incrementum. (2) A figure of speech in which something is referred to in terms disproportionately large (a kind of exaggeration or hyperbole). (3) Amplification in general.
(1) I am worried by the fact that he’s running for office. I am frightened by the possibility that he may win the primary. I am terrified by what may happen if he actually gets elected.
(2) I love that little deli–they put a million slices of corned beef on their reubens!
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Definition courtesy of “Silva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu).
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