: a line of verse consisting of five metrical feet
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In a line of poetry written in perfect iambic pentameter, there are five unstressed syllables, each of which is followed by a stressed syllable. Each pair of syllables is a metrical foot called an iamb. Much of the greatest poetry in English has been written in iambic pentameter; Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton used it more than any other meter. Robert Frost's line "I'm going out to clean the pasture spring" is an example of it; his "And miles to go before I sleep" is instead an example of iambic tetrameter, with only four accented syllables.
Examples of pentameter in a Sentence
a poem written in iambic pentameter
Recent Examples on the WebThink fast Iambic pentameter this is not, but Carpenter’s schtick of cheeky, PG-13 rhymes showed off a pop star who isn’t afraid to laugh, especially at her own expense.—Alex Abad-Santos, Vox, 17 May 2024 Heffernan, who was raised in southwest Detroit, was known for pushing the boundaries of traditional poetic forms such as sonnets, sestinas and iambic pentameters, infusing them with everyday conversational tones and theological depth.—Brendel Hightower, Detroit Free Press, 10 May 2024 The first passage is a Spenserian stanza, nine lines long, the last line being an Alexandrine—consisting of six feet, that is, and thus metrically a foot longer than the iambic pentameters that precede it.—Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 26 Feb. 2024 Adapted by Laurie Woolery, who directs, and the singer-songwriter Shaina Taub, who provides the music and lyrics, this easeful, intentional show bestows the pleasures typical of a Shakespeare comedy — adventure, disguise, multiple marriages, pentameter for days.—Alexis Soloski, New York Times, 30 Aug. 2022 But all of this was before ChatGPT, which has no trouble with text generation, even with very difficult constraints like rhyming and iambic pentameter.—Quanta Magazine, 27 Apr. 2023 Ask for a poem in Shakespearean iambic pentameter about your dog Spot, and ChatGPT will comply.—Theodore McDarrah, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2023 While Deep-speare’s language model was learning about word probabilities from Project Gutenberg’s collection of sonnets, a separate rhythm model was learning about iambic pentameter.—IEEE Spectrum, 30 Apr. 2020 Raised on jazz and classical and not rock and roll, Bacharach brought a level of melodic sophistication and romanticism — unconventional 5/4 time signatures, melodies that didn’t stick to standard iambic pentameter — into the top 40.—David Browne, Rolling Stone, 9 Feb. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pentameter.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Latin, from Greek pentametros having five metrical feet, from penta- + metron measure — more at measure
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