anapest

or an·a·paest

[ an-uh-pest ]
/ ˈæn əˌpɛst /

noun Prosody.

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

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

Example sentences from the Web for anapestic