Malaphor

//ˈmæl.ə.foɹ// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An idiom blend: an error in which two similar figures of speech are merged, producing an often nonsensical result. rare

    "What I conclude from this admittedly narrow data base is that, while the malaphor flourishes in bureaucratic compost, it will grow just about anywhere. The following malaphors are my pick of the letters. They were uttered in the home, on the farm, in the street."

Synonyms

All synonyms
dundrearyism

Example

More examples

"Malaphor is another word for mixed metaphor."

Etymology

Blend of malapropism + metaphor; attributed to Lawrence Harrison in the Washington Post article "Searching for Malaphors" (Aug. 6, 1976).

Related phrases

figure of speechidiom blend

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.