anastrophe

American  

[uh-nas-truh-fee] / əˈnæs trə fi /

noun

Rhetoric.

1. inversion of the usual order of words.

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anastrophe British  

/ əˈnæstrəfɪ /

noun

1. rhetoric another term for inversion

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Etymology

Origin of anastrophe

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

Explanation

When the words in a sentence or phrase are deliberately mixed up, it's called anastrophe. Using anastrophe can sometimes make speech sound more formal. One of the most well-known users of anastrophe is the Star Wars character Yoda, whose mixed-up word order makes him sound wise and vaguely like a non-native English speaker: "Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is." It was common to use anastrophe as a literary device in ancient Greek and Latin poetry, and the word itself is Greek, meaning "a turning back" or "a turning upside-down."

Example Sentences

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.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 20, 2023