Meanings
plural malaphors
- rareAn idiom blend: an error in which two similar figures of speech are merged, producing an often nonsensical result.
Among Swift's favorite malaphors are "He's a ragged individualist"; "I was up at the crank of dawn"; and "He's a fly in the oatmeal."
2012, George Michael Killenberg, Public Affairs Reporting Now: News of, by and for the People, Taylor & Francis1 more example
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.
1977, Benefit Payments Report, California Dept. of Benefit Payments, Health and Welfare Agency, →OCLC, page 5Synonyms: Dundrearyism
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn idiom blend: an error in which two similar figures of speech are merged, producing an often nonsensical result.
Origin
Blend of malapropism + metaphor; attributed to Lawrence Harrison in the Washington Post article "Searching for Malaphors" (Aug. 6, 1976).
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
malaphor. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/malaphor
“malaphor.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/malaphor. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “malaphor,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/malaphor.
Source: malaphor on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.