transferred epithet
Modifier moves targets
A transferred epithet is an adjective grammatically attached to one noun but logically belonging to another.
In a sleepless night, the night isn't sleepless—the person is.
The modifier transfers from its logical target to a nearby noun, creating a compact, evocative phrase.
Common examples include angry letter, nervous glance, and tired sigh.
The device appears constantly in everyday speech, often unnoticed.
- misplacedPut in wrong location
- misplaced modifierDescriptor attached to wrong word
- modifierWord altering another
- adjectiveNoun-describing word type
- rhetorical deviceCalculated language technique for effect
figure of speech · literary technique · sleepless · night · dreary · streets · blind · mouths · happy · valleys · weary · road · anxious · seat · pathetic · fallacy · personification · displacement
- figurative languagemetaphor, simile, figure of speech, analogy, personification
- rhetoricrhetoric, persuasion, oratory, argumentation, debate
transferred, transfer, transfers, transferring, transferable, transference, epithet, epithets