Which term is the giving of human qualities to an animal, object, or idea?

• A. metaphor
• B. simile
• C. lexis
• D. personification

Answer: (D)

Giving human qualities to an animal, object, or idea is called personification. It’s a figure of speech that makes something non-human act, feel, or think like a person, such as saying “the wind whispered through the trees” or “the clock stubbornly refused to move.” This naming is specific: it focuses on human traits or actions being attributed to something non-human.

That’s why it’s the best answer. A simile compares two things using like or as, which is a relational device rather than attributing human traits to the thing itself. Lexis refers to vocabulary—the words we use—so it isn’t a figure of speech. Metaphor is a broader figure of speech that asserts one thing is another, and while it can involve human traits, the question targets the particular act of giving human characteristics, which is precisely what personification does.