Word.ws English Dictionary

antimetabole

UK/ˌæn.tɪ.məˈtæ.bə.li/US/ˌæn.ti.məˈtæ.bə.li/

antimetabole noun: the technique of repeating a phrase while reversing the order of certain elements or its grammatical structure, as a form of juxtaposition.

Noun

antimetabole (countable and uncountable, plural antimetaboles)

  1. (rhetoric) The technique of repeating a phrase while reversing the order of certain elements or its grammatical structure, as a form of juxtaposition.
    • Antimetabole at effect will strain,
      And words and terms revers'd employ again.1835, L[arret] Langley, “[Rhetorical Turns.] Antimetabole.”, in A Manual of the Figures of Rhetoric, […], Doncaster, South Yorkshire: […] C. White, […], →OCLC, page 90
    • "Mankind must put an end to war or else war will put an end to mankind." Many other instances may be found in kind. As one reserves fine china for the most special occasions and in only the most select company, so Kennedy used his beloved antimetabole.2008, Michael E Eidenmuller, Great Speeches For Better Speaking, page 92

antimetabole meaning in Tamil

antimetabole in Tamil

சொல் எதிர் மறியணி

Forms of antimetabole

pluralantimetaboles

Origin of antimetabole

From Ancient Greek ἀντιμεταβολή (antimetabolḗ). By surface analysis, anti- (“opposite”) + Ancient Greek μετᾰβολή (metăbolḗ, “transformation”).

Questions about antimetabole

What does antimetabole mean?
Antimetabole means the technique of repeating a phrase while reversing the order of certain elements or its grammatical structure, as a form of juxtaposition.
What is antimetabole in Tamil?
Antimetabole in Tamil is சொல் எதிர் மறியணி. See Antimetabole meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is antimetabole?
Antimetabole is a noun.
How do you pronounce antimetabole?
Antimetabole is pronounced /ˌæn.tɪ.məˈtæ.bə.li/ (UK).
What is the plural of antimetabole?
The plural of antimetabole is antimetaboles.

Words near antimetabole in the dictionary

  1. antimeson
  2. antimesons
  3. antimessage
  4. antimessages
  5. antimessianic
  6. antimetabole
  7. antimetaboles
  8. antimetabolic
  9. antimetabolite
  10. antimetabolites
  11. antimetalloproteinase

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: antimetabole (page history and authors); antimetabole (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “antimetabole.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/antimetabole. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.