antimetathesis

9.9

To reverse the order of matching words in two parts of a sentence to show contrast

noun
/ˌæntɪˌmɛtəˈθɛsɪs/

Literature

: antimetátesis

One famous example of antimetathesis is, 'Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.'

Examples

One well-known instance of antimetathesis is, 'To err is human; to forgive, divine,' illustrating the opposing actions.
The poet used antimetathesis to cleverly reverse the structure and deepen the meaning of his lines.
In his speech, the orator relied on antimetathesis to contrast hope and despair in a memorable way.
What is an antimetathesis?
The speech included an antimetathesis that highlighted the differences between freedom and oppression.
In her essay, the student used antimetathesis to emphasize the contrast between love and hate effectively.
The writer's skillful application of antimetathesis in the phrase 'He was a man of peace, not war' added depth to his argument.

Synonyms

inversion

vsantimetathesis

Literature

1 7.0

Putting words in an unusual order to add emphasis

reverses paired words across clauses rather than merely changing sentence word order

anastrophe

vsantimetathesis

Literature

9.9

A change of the usual word order to make a word or phrase stand out

reverses corresponding elements across successive clauses to create contrast or emphasis

Surface Forms

antimetathesis singular

antimetatheses plural

Morphology

antimetathesis = metathesis (semi-transparent) = anti + meta + thesis

The word is built from recognizable Greek-derived elements meaning roughly 'against' and 'transposition', but the rhetorical sense is specialized and not fully predictable for an average learner.

Etymology

Antimetathesis comes from Greek parts anti- meaning 'opposite' and metathesis meaning 'a change of place'. So antimetathesis is when a writer or speaker 'switches' the order of words on purpose to make a strong contrast or to be more memorable.