anastrophe

[uh-nas-truh-fee]

noun

Rhetoric.

1. inversion of the usual order of words.

anastrophe

/ əˈnæstrəfɪ /

noun

1. rhetoric another term for inversion

Word History and Origins

Origin of anastrophe¹

1570–80; < Greek: turning back. See ana-, strophe

Word History and Origins

Origin of anastrophe¹

C16: from Greek, from anastrephein to invert

Example Sentences

The literary term “anastrophe” refers to the technique of reversing word order in a sentence for effect.

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Some retellings of celebrated stories enact a kind of anastrophe on a higher level, lifting one author’s plot to another author’s purpose — and in the process reversing the polarity of the story.

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