noun
- the study of style in language, especially the analysis of literary texts to understand how linguistic choices create meaning and effect
Usage: academic; linguistics
Examples
- The professor taught a course in stylistics that examined how poets use rhythm and word choice.
- Her stylistics research focused on the distinctive features of Victorian novels.
- Students of stylistics learn to analyze how authors create tone through sentence structure.
- The stylistics approach revealed patterns in the writer’s use of metaphor.
- Modern stylistics combines literary criticism with linguistic theory.
- His dissertation in stylistics compared dialogue styles across different genres.