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Glite Dictionary
anastrophe

anastrophe

9.9
A change of the usual word order to make a word or phrase stand out
  • noun
  • /əˈnæstrəfi/
  • Literature
translation icon : anástrofe
  • The marketing campaign utilized anastrophe to grab attention, stating, "Powerful can its be," making the message more memorable.

Examples

  • In the famous line, "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away," the author uses anastrophe to create a dramatic effect by reversing the usual word order.

  • By contrast, Monkman's Icon for a New Empire reverses these dynamics in a striking act of visual anastrophe, a rhetorical move that is signaled by the very mirror-inversion of the subjects' positions on canvas.

    Academic text (2012)

  • Terms such as hyperbaton, anastrophe, and inversion are defined, explained, and illustrated solely on the basis of word order, not word proximity.

    Academic text (2005)

  • Shakespeare often employed anastrophe in his poetry, such as in the phrase, "Into the woods I go," which emphasizes the journey ahead.

Synonyms

rhetorical device
vsanastrophe
1 6.6

A way of using language to persuade or add emphasis

is the narrower name for reversing normal word order for emphasis
inversion
vsanastrophe
  • Literature
1 7.0

Putting words in an unusual order to add emphasis

is broader and covers unusual placements not only strict reversals
hyperbaton
vsanastrophe
  • Literature
9.9

To put words in an unusual order to make a point

is the specific term for this exact word order reversal

Surface Forms

anastrophe singular
anastrophes plural

Morphology

anastrophe = strophe (opaque) = ana + strophe

Though analyzable as 'ana-' + 'strophe', both are Greek combining forms and the term is a specialized rhetorical borrowing unlikely to be deduced by an average B1 learner.

Etymology

Anastrophe comes from Greek parts ana- meaning 'back' and strophe meaning 'turn'. So it literally means a 'turning back', which helps you remember that anastrophe is when a writer turns the normal order of words around to make a stronger or more poetic effect.