Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
synesthetic metaphor

synesthetic metaphor

9.9
Describing one sense using terms from another, like calling music sweet
  • noun
  • /ˌsɪnəˈθɛtɪk ˈmɛtəfɔr/
  • Literature
translation icon : metáfora sinestésica
  • Describing music as 'sweet' is an example of a synesthetic metaphor connecting taste and hearing.

Examples

  • The phrase 'a loud shirt' is a synesthetic metaphor because it applies a sound quality to a visual object.

  • Writers often use synesthetic metaphors to create vivid and multi-layered imagery in their poetry.

  • The poem uses a synesthetic metaphor to evoke multiple senses.

  • Can you identify any synesthetic metaphors in this text?

  • Describing music as 'sweet' is an example of a synesthetic metaphor that connects taste and hearing.

  • The phrase 'a loud shirt' is a clear example of a synesthetic metaphor using sound characteristics to describe a visual object.

  • Writers often create vivid imagery by incorporating synesthetic metaphors that blend different sensory experiences.

How Figurative

synesthetic metaphor
  • Literature
9.9
frozen metaphor
  • Literature
7.5
dead metaphor
  • Literature
7.4

Surface Forms

synesthetic metaphor singular
synesthetic metaphors plural

Morphology

synesthetic + metaphor

The phrase is transparently compositional: 'synesthetic' (combining different sensory perceptions) modifies 'metaphor' (a figure of speech), so the meaning — a metaphor that blends sensations — follows directly from the parts. This adjectival + noun pattern is regular and cross-linguistically common, so a learner who knows both constituents can infer the sense.

Etymology

Synesthetic metaphor comes from the idea of mixing senses: imagine a song so smooth you could 'taste' it or a colour so bright it seems 'loud'. That image helps you remember it means 'using words from one sense to describe another'.