Definitions
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In rhetoric, a figure in which the same words or ideas are repeated in inverse order. The following are examples: “A wit with dunces, and a dunce with wits,” Pope; “Be wisely worldly, but not worldly wise,” Quarles.
Wiktionary
- n. The technique of reversal, where accentuated by reversal of words, actions or grammatical structure.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A figure in which the same words or ideas are repeated in transposed order.
Examples
“The classical rhetorician called that antimetabole, though modern speech writers tend to refer to it as the reversible raincoat.”
“This anxiety produces an exchange between Edward and his uncle Richard that shows the youngster's verbal dexterity in the rhetorical figure of antimetabole, or the symmetrical repetition of words in inverted order:”
Shakespeare
“How many even know the meaning of anaphora, antimetabole or litotes?”
“Here, courtesy of Slate, are instances of antimetabole in this election season:”
“Slate points out that throughout this long presidential campaign season, both parties have taken advantage of the same rhetorical trick: antimetabole, or repeating words in a reverse order.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘antimetabole’.
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Rhetorical Devices
syllepsis, zeugma, trope, wellerism, anastrophe, anaphora, apostrophe, metonymy, chiasmus, antimetabole, syncope, open-list and 431 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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Linguistic Terms
Words that (mostly) only linguists know.
arpabet, protologism, diacritic, macron, macaronic, capitonym, grapheme, boustrophedon, allograph, analphabetic, idiomatic, portmanteau and 39 more...
jmjarmstrong JM consults his timetable to determine the antimetabole. Dec 17, 2010
rolig a.k.a. the reversible raincoat. Jan 24, 2009
kewpid Woo, wordies are ahead of the ball. Sep 6, 2008
harrisj Often confused with chiasmus, this is the correct term for the rhetorical trick of reversing two words in two clauses of a sentence for a clever bit of wordplay. For instance,
President George W. Bush's speechwriters seem especially fond of this technique, almost to the point of caricature.
Sep 3, 2008