catachresis

Variant spellings[1] catechresis (17 ^th century, obsolete, now a misspelling), katachresis (17 ^th century)

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

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: kătəkrēʹsĭs, IPA^(key): /kætəˈkɹiːsɪs/,[1]

catachresis (plural catachreses)

1. A misuse of a word; an application of a term to something which it does not properly denote.[1]
   1. (often, especially) Such a misuse involving some similarity of sound between the misused word and the appropriate word.
2. (rhetoric) A misapplication or overextension of figurative or analogical description; a wrongly-applied metaphor or trope.[1]

• (misuse of a word, regardless of similar sounds): misnomer
• (misuse of a word, with similar sounds): malapropism
• ((rhetoric) bad metaphor or trope): abusio

• catachresized
• catachrestic
• catachrestical
• catachrestically