Meanings
- rhetoricuncountableA rhetorical device in which a threat of retribution (especially of divine punishment) is made in response to wrongdoing.
1 more example
In III.v's [sc. Ben Jonson's Epicoene] final sixty lines, Morose and Truewit wish calamity on Cutbeard: 'May he get the itch, and his shop so lousy as no man dare come at him' (III.v.70-71). They focus half of their cataplexis on Cutbeard's body, which they hope will develop blotches and gout, and the other half on the objects of his trade.
2016, E. Decamp, Civic and Medical Worlds in Early Modern England: Performing Barbery and Surgery, page 41Synonyms: commination
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA rhetorical device in which a threat of retribution (especially of divine punishment) is made in response to wrongdoing.
Origin
- Ancient Greekκατάπληξις“amazement, consternation”
- Englishcataplexis
From Ancient Greek κατάπληξις (katáplēxis, “amazement, consternation”), from καταπλήσσω (kataplḗssō, “to amaze, astound”).
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
cataplexis. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cataplexis
“cataplexis.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cataplexis. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cataplexis,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cataplexis.
Source: cataplexis on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.