Malapropism is an error of incorrectly substituting a word that sounds similar to the original, but is far different in meaning. It is a form of catachresis, which means the incorrect use of a word. The three main features of malapropism that separate it from other grammatical or linguistic errors are:

1. The word used has a different meaning than the word the speaker intended to use,
2. The erroneous word sounds very similar to the intended word, and
3. The incorrect word is a recognizable word in the individual’s native language.