The article focuses on functioning of the polyptoton in the poetry of Lomonosov - one of the techniques, dating back to the classical rhetorical tradition. In a narrow sense, a polyptoton is a repetition of a name in different cases and prepositional case forms. As a recognizable element of the Lomonosov’s odic style, the polyptoton was parodied by A. P. Sumarokov in his “Vzdornye ody” [Foolish odes]. This article analyzes examples of polyptotons in Lomonosov’s odes - from the ode “First Trophies of John III” (1741) to the “Ode for Elizabeth Petrovna on her Name Day” (1759). The figure of polyptoton (“naklonenie”) was described by Lomonosov in his main rhetorical treatise - “Quick Guide to Eloquence” (1748). The analysis of his solemn odes demonstrates the inconsistency of the formulated and implemented principles of his poetics: polyptotons are used primarily not for contrast (as stated in the “Quick Guide”), but to create a hyperbolic context - when depicting war, natural disasters (floods, storms), enthusiastic state of the odic poet, people’s glee. This article traces the features of the polyptotons in the post-Lomonosov odic poetry (using the examples of V. P. Petrov’s odes). Petrov mainly uses this rhetorical figure in the “heroic” battle scenes after Lomonosov.