adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
- dactylically adverb
Etymology
Origin of dactylic
1580–90; < Latin dactylicus < Greek daktylikós. See dactyl, -ic
Vocabulary lists containing dactylic
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It is said that Meechan’s fellow satirist, Juvenal, issued a similar warning to ancient Greek critics, infuriated by his cavalier use of the dactylic hexameter, in the second century AD.
From The Guardian • May 26, 2019
As such, it’s particularly difficult to adapt to dactylic hexameter, the waltzlike, oom-pah-pah meter of epic poetry, which the Romans inherited from the Greeks.
From The New Yorker • Oct. 8, 2018
Homer composed the “Odyssey” in dactylic hexameter, the six-beat meter that gives the poem its elevated oom-pah-pah, oom-pah-pah cadence.
From New York Times • Sep. 18, 2017
More specifically, a grammatically- and rhythmically-correct line of dactylic hexameter, the kind used by Virgil and Ovid.
From Slate • Aug. 29, 2017
The poet does not handle dactylic measures quite easily; on the other hand, he is masterly in the lighter lyrical forms.
From Readings from Latin Verse With Notes by Bushnell, Curtis C.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
