catachresis

Meanings

Plural: catachreses

Noun

strained or paradoxical use of words either in error (as `blatant' to mean `flagrant') or deliberately (as in a mixed metaphor: `blind mouths')
A misuse of a word; an application of a term to something which it does not properly denote.
A misuse of a word; an application of a term to something which it does not properly denote.
Such a misuse involving some similarity of sound between the misused word and the appropriate word.
A misapplication or overextension of a figurative or analogical description; a wrongly applied metaphor or trope.

Origin / Etymology

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

Synonyms

abusio, malapropism

Scrabble Score: 18

catachresis is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
catachresis is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
catachresis is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 19

catachresis is a valid Words With Friends word