An epithet is a descriptive term that accompanies or occurs in place of the name of a real or fictitious person, place, or thing. It is an adjective or adjectival phrase that characterizes a place, a thing, or a person that helps make the characteristics of this thing more prominent. Epithets can be used in a positive or negative way that benefits the orator.

Epithets are often used in literature to add texture to prose and to vividly describe people, places, and things. They can be used to attribute very specific qualities or characteristics to what is being described. There are three types of epithets that exist within literature and conversation: fixed, kenning, and argumentative.

Fixed epithets, also called Homeric epithets, are the repeated use of a word or phrase to describe the same person, place, or thing. These are often used in epic poetry, such as in Homers "wine-dark sea". Kenning epithets are compound words or phrases that describe an object in a roundabout way, such as "whale-road" for the sea. Argumentative epithets are used to persuade or influence the audience, such as calling a political opponent "crooked".

Epithets can also be used negatively, with the meaning "a disparaging word or phrase". However, it is important to note that not every adjective is an epithet, and that the term is especially recognizable when its function is largely decorative.