Metaphor & Figuration
Catachresis
Using a word in a strained or unusual way, often through a metaphor whose terms do not fit comfortably together. The mismatch may create an unfamiliar image or make the meaning harder to follow.
“Take arms against a sea of troubles” (Hamlet): fighting with weapons is strained when the opponent is a sea.
Don't confuse it with Metaphor. A dead metaphor ('table leg') no longer registers as figurative; catachresis keeps its torque — it must still feel misapplied.
Examples
He tried to stitch the flavor of silence to the wall.
The phrase deliberately strains several categories: silence acquires flavor, then becomes something that can be stitched.
Often used alongside this device
Explore devices that often appear in the same passages as catachresis.
Asyndeton 5 Anaphora 5 Metaphor 3 Enjambment 3 Polyptoton 3 Parataxis 3 Prosopopoeia 3
The rest of the family
Metaphor Simile Metonymy Synecdoche Personification Prosopopoeia Pathetic Fallacy Transferred Epithet / Hypallage Metalepsis Symbol Allusion Mythopoesis