Pentameter
noun
A line of verse that has five metrical feet, often used in poetry.
Shakespeare often wrote using iambic pentameter.
Often appears as...
- iambic pentameter
- writing in pentameter
Usage tips
Poetic
noun
A line of verse that has five metrical feet, often used in poetry.
Shakespeare often wrote using iambic pentameter.
Often appears as...
- iambic pentameter
- writing in pentameter
Usage tips
Poetic
Definition 1 of 1
Pro Tip 1/3Pronunciation Clue
Stress the first syllable: PEN-tuh-meet-er. Helps to pronounce and recognize in poetry.
Her recital emphasized the PENTAmeter rhythm beautifully.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Just Iambic
Pentameter isn't limited to iambic. It can include other rhythms like trochaic pentameter.
We analyzed a trochaic pentameter in class today.
Pro Tip 3/3Literature Connection
Often found in classic literature, understanding pentameter can enhance enjoyment and analysis.
Recognizing the pentameter helped me appreciate Dante's Divine Comedy more deeply.
Pro Tip 1/3Pronunciation Clue
Stress the first syllable: PEN-tuh-meet-er. Helps to pronounce and recognize in poetry.
Her recital emphasized the PENTAmeter rhythm beautifully.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Just Iambic
Pentameter isn't limited to iambic. It can include other rhythms like trochaic pentameter.
We analyzed a trochaic pentameter in class today.
Pro Tip 3/3Literature Connection
Often found in classic literature, understanding pentameter can enhance enjoyment and analysis.
Recognizing the pentameter helped me appreciate Dante's Divine Comedy more deeply.
Pro Tip 1/3Pronunciation Clue
Stress the first syllable: PEN-tuh-meet-er. Helps to pronounce and recognize in poetry.
Her recital emphasized the PENTAmeter rhythm beautifully.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Just Iambic
Pentameter isn't limited to iambic. It can include other rhythms like trochaic pentameter.
We analyzed a trochaic pentameter in class today.
Pro Tip 3/3Literature Connection
Often found in classic literature, understanding pentameter can enhance enjoyment and analysis.
Recognizing the pentameter helped me appreciate Dante's Divine Comedy more deeply.
Never forget "Pentameter"
Humans forget easily. That's why you should download WordUp: Smart reminders, word games, AI practice, and much more!
Video examples
Paper towns and why...
and I learned that iambic pentameter is and why it sounds so good to human ears. I learned that the Civil War was a nationalizing conflict, I learned some physics, I learned that correlation shouldn't be confused with causation -- all of these things, by the way, enriched my life on a literally daily basis.
Video examples
Why Shakespeare loved...
The pirate can only walk in iambs, a living reminder of Shakespeare's favorite meter. Iambic pentameter is when he takes ten steps. Our pirate friend can even help us remember how to properly mark it if we image the footprints he leaves walking along a deserted island
Video examples
The weird, wonderful,...
share with you some bots that do some human things at pentameter on writes poetry it's bio reads with algorithms subtle and discrete I seek I am back writings
Video examples
Paper towns and why...
and I learned that iambic pentameter is and why it sounds so good to human ears. I learned that the Civil War was a nationalizing conflict, I learned some physics, I learned that correlation shouldn't be confused with causation -- all of these things, by the way, enriched my life on a literally daily basis.
Video examples
Why Shakespeare loved...
The pirate can only walk in iambs, a living reminder of Shakespeare's favorite meter. Iambic pentameter is when he takes ten steps. Our pirate friend can even help us remember how to properly mark it if we image the footprints he leaves walking along a deserted island
Video examples
The weird, wonderful,...
share with you some bots that do some human things at pentameter on writes poetry it's bio reads with algorithms subtle and discrete I seek I am back writings
Example 1 of 3
Quote examples
Kurt Sutter
American Director
Here's the deal with 'Bastard.' I loved that show, and for me, it was such a palate cleanser, going from writing urban vernacular and crime to, essentially, iambic pentameter. I loved the mythology of that world based on history, but what it came down to was money.
Quote examples
Calvin Trillin
American Journalist
You know, I used to say, when people say, 'How do you think about what to write about in the poems every week?' And I say, 'Well, I have to turn it in on Monday, so on Sunday nights I turn the shower to iambic pentameter and it sort of works out that way.
Quote examples
John C. McGinley
American Actor
The conventional wisdom with David Mamet is, you do not change a word. And that agrees with me. If you want to change any of David's words, it's like wanting to change the iambic pentameter in Shakespeare - you should do something else.
Quote examples
Neil Patrick Harris
American Actor
It's good to have a lot of once-in-a-lifetimes in your lifetime. If you get the chance to skydive, go skydiving. If you're offered a part in a weird Shakespeare play in San Diego, slap on some tights and rock out some iambic pentameter.
Quote examples
James Fenton
British Poet
The iambic pentameter owes its pre-eminence in English poetry to its genius for variation. Good blank verse does not sound like a series of identically measured lines. It sounds like a series of subtle variations on the same theme.
Quote examples
Richard McCabe
Scottish Actor
I adored being at the RSC and working on the verse and getting the iambic pentameter right. You just skim across the surface, and the speech is over before you know it. You can just ride along on the music of it.
Quote examples
Vikram Seth
Indian Novelist
You have to learn a few things, which you do along the way, but basically, poetry is a matter of the ear. Iambic pentameters or what constitutes a stanza comes naturally - your ears will know.
Quote examples
Ian Doescher
American Writer
I've spent so much time with iambic pentameter that I can now recognize it when I hear it in conversation or a movie - it's like a weird, useless superpower.
Quote examples
A. A. Gill
British Writer
I tell you, once a girl's got a dose of novels she's a pushover for iambic pentameter.
Quote examples
Howard Nemerov
American Poet
I would talk in iambic pentameter if it were easier.
Quote examples
Kurt Sutter
American Director
Here's the deal with 'Bastard.' I loved that show, and for me, it was such a palate cleanser, going from writing urban vernacular and crime to, essentially, iambic pentameter. I loved the mythology of that world based on history, but what it came down to was money.
Quote examples
Calvin Trillin
American Journalist
You know, I used to say, when people say, 'How do you think about what to write about in the poems every week?' And I say, 'Well, I have to turn it in on Monday, so on Sunday nights I turn the shower to iambic pentameter and it sort of works out that way.
Quote examples
John C. McGinley
American Actor
The conventional wisdom with David Mamet is, you do not change a word. And that agrees with me. If you want to change any of David's words, it's like wanting to change the iambic pentameter in Shakespeare - you should do something else.
Quote examples
Neil Patrick Harris
American Actor
It's good to have a lot of once-in-a-lifetimes in your lifetime. If you get the chance to skydive, go skydiving. If you're offered a part in a weird Shakespeare play in San Diego, slap on some tights and rock out some iambic pentameter.
Quote examples
James Fenton
British Poet
The iambic pentameter owes its pre-eminence in English poetry to its genius for variation. Good blank verse does not sound like a series of identically measured lines. It sounds like a series of subtle variations on the same theme.
Quote examples
Richard McCabe
Scottish Actor
I adored being at the RSC and working on the verse and getting the iambic pentameter right. You just skim across the surface, and the speech is over before you know it. You can just ride along on the music of it.
Quote examples
Vikram Seth
Indian Novelist
You have to learn a few things, which you do along the way, but basically, poetry is a matter of the ear. Iambic pentameters or what constitutes a stanza comes naturally - your ears will know.
Quote examples
Ian Doescher
American Writer
I've spent so much time with iambic pentameter that I can now recognize it when I hear it in conversation or a movie - it's like a weird, useless superpower.
Quote examples
A. A. Gill
British Writer
I tell you, once a girl's got a dose of novels she's a pushover for iambic pentameter.
Quote examples
Howard Nemerov
American Poet
I would talk in iambic pentameter if it were easier.
Example 1 of 10
WordUp Chrome Extension
As you browse the web instantly look up words you don’t know.
Get Chrome Extension