accentual-syllabic

adjective

ac·​cen·​tu·​al-syl·​lab·​ic
prosody
: characterized by lines with a fixed number of stressed and unstressed syllables
Finally, Sidney is presented as the first English poet who was a master of strict accentual-syllabic meter and yet able to vary this meter with a deliberate, controlled, and often gorgeous counterpoint of speech rhythms.Robert Lowell, Collected Prose, 1987
Accentual-syllabic verse is built up of pairs or triads of syllables, alternating or otherwise grouping stressed and unstressed ones. Syllables usually keep their word accent, or the accent they would have in phrases in normal speech.John Hollander, Rhyme's Reason, 1981

Word History

First Known Use

1921, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of accentual-syllabic was in 1921

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Dictionary Entries Near accentual-syllabic

Cite this Entry

“Accentual-syllabic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/accentual-syllabic. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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