antonomasia.

Substitution of an epithet or title for a personal name, or a personal name for a type associated with that person.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• rhetorical antonomasia
• a familiar antonomasia

On the page

Calling the poet ‘the Bard’ used antonomasia instead of his name.

The description of him as ‘a Scrooge’ made antonomasia carry the judgment.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary. Forms: Usually uncountable. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.