anapest

or an·a·paest

[ an-uh-pest ]
See synonyms for: anapestanapestic on Thesaurus.com

nounProsody.
  1. a foot of three syllables, two short followed by one long in quantitative meter, and two unstressed followed by one stressed in accentual meter, as in for the nonce.

Origin of anapest

1
1580–90; <Latin anapaestus<Greek anápaistos struck back, reversed (as compared with a dactyl), equivalent to ana-ana- + pais- (variant stem of paíein to strike) + -tos past participle suffix

Other words from anapest

  • an·a·pes·tic, an·a·paes·tic, adjective
  • an·a·pes·ti·cal·ly, an·a·paes·ti·cal·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use anapest in a sentence

  • Virgilius Mars wrote in hexameters; Horatius Flaccus in alcaic, sapphic, and anapestic verse.

    The Green Book | Mr Jkai
  • In like manner we have anapestic lines of all lengths from monometer to hexameter.

  • Anapestic verse consists of a regular recurrence of two unstressed syllables preceding a stressed syllable, — — /.

    Legends, Tales and Poems | Gustavo Adolfo Becquer
  • There is evident a tendency toward the rising verse and the anapestic foot.

    The Translations of Beowulf | Chauncey Brewster Tinker
  • Here we have a hexameter which is neither iambic nor anapestic, but a combination of the two rhythms.

    English Verse | Raymond MacDonald Alden, Ph.D.