1. A reversal of grammatical structures in successive phrases or clauses to create a contrasting or emphatic effect.
Usage: literary device; rhetoric

Examples

• The famous chiasmus 'Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country' reverses the structure for emphasis.
• In the phrase 'We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us,' the chiasmus mirrors the grammatical order to highlight the reciprocal relationship.
• The poet used chiasmus to create balance: 'Fair is foul, and foul is fair.'
• Chiasmus appears in the line 'Never let a fool kiss you or a kiss fool you,' where the word order is inverted in the second clause.
• The advertisement employed chiasmus: 'Work to live, don't live to work.'