An incorrect use of words, especially the use of words that sound alike but are far in meaning from the speaker's intentions.
Malapropisms are a kind of acyrologia.
The misuse of this word changes the meaning significantly. Related Figures cacozelia A kind of acyrologia in which one uses newfangled speech or Latinate diction in order to appear learned. Vices Acyrologia is one of many figures of speech considered to be vices. This topic of invention plays off of the relationship between language and what language represents, and therefore encompasses both acyrologia and paronomasia. Substitution Acyrologia is one of many other figures of speech or rhetorical strategies based upon substitution.