Word.ws English Dictionary

catachresis

/ˌkæt.əˈkɹiː.sɪs/

catachresis noun: a misuse of a word; an application of a term to something which it does not properly denote.

Noun

catachresis (countable and uncountable, plural catachreses)

  1. A misuse of a word; an application of a term to something which it does not properly denote.
  2. (especially, often) Such a misuse involving some similarity of sound between the misused word and the appropriate word.
    • Near-synonym: malapropism (precisely hyponymous, in which sense only absurd and laughable catachreses are malapropisms)
    Synonyms:
    malapropism[Appendix:Glossary
  3. (rhetoric) A misapplication or overextension of a figurative or analogical description; a wrongly applied metaphor or trope.
    • A Catachresis terms abused receives,
      And epithets and attributes improper gives.1835, L[arret] Langley, “[The Seven Tropes.] Catachresis.”, in A Manual of the Figures of Rhetoric, […], Doncaster, South Yorkshire: […] C. White, […], →OCLC, page 14
    Synonyms:
    abusio

catachresis meaning in Bengali

catachresis in Bengali

শব্দের ভুল, বেমানান ব্যবহার

Synonyms of catachresis

  • malapropism[Appendix:Glossary
  • abusio

Forms of catachresis

pluralcatachreses
alternative form (obsolete)catechresis
alternative form (obsolete)katachresis

Origin of catachresis

Learned borrowing from Latin catachrēsis, borrowed from Ancient Greek κατάχρησις (katákhrēsis, “misuse (of a word)”).

Questions about catachresis

What does catachresis mean?
Catachresis means a misuse of a word; an application of a term to something which it does not properly denote.
What is catachresis in Bengali?
Catachresis in Bengali is শব্দের ভুল, বেমানান ব্যবহার. See Catachresis meaning in Bengali.
What part of speech is catachresis?
Catachresis is a noun.
How do you pronounce catachresis?
Catachresis is pronounced /ˌkæt.əˈkɹiː.sɪs/ (UK).
What is the plural of catachresis?
The plural of catachresis is catachreses.

Words near catachresis in the dictionary

  1. Catacecaumene
  2. catachalasin
  3. catachism
  4. catacholaminergic
  5. catachreses
  6. catachresis
  7. catachresized
  8. catachrestic
  9. catachrestical
  10. catachrestically
  11. catachronism

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: catachresis (page history and authors); catachresis (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-catachresis.wav.

Cite this entry: “catachresis.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/catachresis. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.