Hypallage (pronounced /h aɪ ˈ p æ l ə dʒ iː /; from the Greek: ὑπαλλαγή, hypallagḗ, meaning "interchange, exchange") is a figure of speech where the way two words are connected in a sentence is changed. More often, a word that usually describes one thing is instead connected to a different word in the sentence. This type of hypallage, which often gives human-like qualities to something that is not alive or not a person, is also called a transferred epithet.

In other languages

Hypallage can be found in Ancient Hebrew writings. For example, in the Book of Job 21:6, the phrase "my flesh seizes trembling" actually means "trembling seizes my flesh." In Psalms 116:15, the line "precious in the eyes of the LORD is death, as to his faithful ones" actually means "the life of his faithful ones is precious in the eyes of the LORD," showing that the LORD does not allow them to die easily.

Hypallage is often used in Ancient Greek and Latin poetry. An example is the phrase "the winged sound of whirling" (δίνης πτερωτὸς φθόγγος), which means "the sound of whirling wings" (Aristophanes, Birds 1198). Another example is Horace's "angry crowns of kings" (iratos…regum apices, Odes 3.21.19f.), which describes "angry crowns of kings." Virgil also used hypallage, as seen in "give the winds to the fleets" (dare classibus Austros, Aeneid 3.61), which means "give the fleets to the winds."

Literary critic Gérard Genette noted that the frequent use of hypallage is a common feature in the writing style of Marcel Proust.