verb
- addresses someone or something that is not present, especially in a dramatic or rhetorical manner
Usage: literary; rhetorical
Examples
- The poet apostrophizes the moon in the opening stanza.
- In his speech, he apostrophizes his deceased mentor.
- The character apostrophizes death itself in the soliloquy.
- She apostrophizes nature throughout her collection of poems.
- The playwright apostrophizes the audience directly in the final scene.
- He apostrophizes his homeland in the emotional letter.