What literal device is this?

Question

"his sisters were fine women, with an air of fashion"

the "air of fashion" part is that a metaphor or is air

being used as an adjective?

Answer 1

It's not a literal device, but a literary device.

Air of fashion is a figure of speech.  It's not a metaphor -- no one is saying they are an air of fashion.  And it's not an adjective; fine is the adjective.

Grammatically, air of fashion is a phrase that is the object of 'with.'  But as a literary device, it is a figure of speech.

Answer 2

This is from Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice: "His sisters were fine women, with an air of decided fashion." It's not a metaphor; it just means the sisters were definitely fashionable.