Chiasmus Examples
chiasmus examples
Chaismus (also spelled chiasmus) is a figure of speech in which two or more clauses are balanced against each other by the reversal of their structures. The second half says the first half backwards.
Each chaismus example below is annotated to show the mirrored word pairs. Tap any card to read the full story.
First word pair
Second word pair
May 08, 2026
Literary
By day the frolic, and the dance by night
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April 19, 2026
Literary
Eat to live, not live to eat.
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April 19, 2026
Proverb
When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
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April 19, 2026
Political
Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.
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April 19, 2026
Proverb
You can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy.
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April 19, 2026
Literary
Do I love you because you're beautiful, or are you beautiful because I love you?
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