hypallage
/haɪˈpælədʒi/
noun
- A figure of speech in which the expected relationship between words is swapped, often by transferring an adjective from the noun it logically describes to another noun in the sentence.
- In the phrase 'a sleepless night,' the writer uses hypallage because it is the person, not the night, that is sleepless.
- Learning about hypallage helped me notice how often we say things like 'a guilty verdict' when the guilt belongs to the person, not the verdict.
- The poet's hypallage in 'the happy morning' suggests the morning itself feels joy, not just the people in it.