chiastic

[kahy-as-tik]

adjective

Rhetoric.

1. characterized by chiasmus.

Word History and Origins

Origin of chiastic¹

1865–70; < Greek chiast ( ós ) diagonally arranged ( chiasma ) + -ic

Example Sentences

Neither was it a young, buoyantly hopeful Jack Kennedy, though many of the familiar chiastic constructions had been put into the address by Kennedy Speechwriter Ted Sorensen.

From Time Magazine Archive