1. a figure of speech in which the natural relations of two words in a statement are interchanged
Usage: rhetoric; literary

Examples

• In ‘the plowman homeward plods his weary way,’ the adjective ‘weary’ is transferred from the plowman to his way, creating a hypallage.
• The phrase ‘sleepless night’ is a common example of hypallage, as it is the person who is sleepless, not the night.
• Virgil’s ‘happy sword’ demonstrates hypallage by attributing the warrior’s emotion to his weapon.
• The poet used hypallage when writing ‘angry waves’ instead of describing the storm that made the sea turbulent.
• Shakespeare employed hypallage in ‘guilty of detested crimes’ where guilt is transferred to create poetic effect.
• The expression ‘restless bed’ shows hypallage since it is the sleeper who is restless, not the bed itself.