Describing one kind of sense impression by using words that normally describe another sense. A blending or confusion of different kinds of sense impression, in which one type of sensation is referred to in terms more appropriate to another. Common synaesthetic expressions include the descriptions of colors as "loud" or "warm", and of sounds as "smooth". A crossing of sensory metaphors (e.g., "loud shirt", "bitter wind", "sweet voice", "velvety smile" or "prickly laugh").
Example
4 Jon On Our 22nd Wedding Anniversary
Your love is
quite sensational –
Your laughter tastes
like spring-time rain
Your tears smell
like sweet lemon flower petals
Your voice looks
so
deeply
majestic
Your heart sounds
like exquisite violin and harp concertos
And your eyes!
Your eyes feel
like early autumn sunset’s amber-gold lengthening glow
Oh, my love, your love
is entirely, completely,
embracingly
Sen-sational!
Copyright © 2007 Rev. Rebecca Guile Hudson
[n] a sensation that normally occurs in one sense modality occurs when another modality is stimulated