Definitions

1. noun

A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is used to describe something to which it does not correctly apply, especially the use of a metaphor or simile in place of a more specific term.

“The critic accused the poet of using catachresis in the line ‘her eyes are the sun’, which is a metaphorical expression rather than a literal one.”

2. noun

A type of linguistic or rhetorical error in which a word or phrase is used incorrectly or imprecisely.

“The student’s essay was marred by a series of catachreses, which undermined the credibility of her argument.”