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Literature vocabulary · Poetry

Feminine rhyme

Meaning in literature, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In literature, feminine rhyme means: Rhyme extending from a stressed syllable into a following unstressed syllable or syllables.

In Turkish: dişil uyak, vurgusuz heceyle uzayan uyak

How it is used

Use for rhymes such as 'walking' and 'talking'; the label describes sound, not gender.

Example sentences

  1. The feminine rhyme of 'falling' and 'calling' lets each line trail beyond its strong beat.

    An unstressed final syllable follows the shared stressed sound.

  2. We replaced a feminine rhyme because its extra syllable disrupted the brief refrain.

    The revision responds to a specific rhythmic mismatch.

Common collocations

  • use feminine rhyme
  • a feminine rhyme ending
  • rhymeThe repetition of the same or similar sounds at the ends of words, especially at the ends of lines in a poem, as in 'night' and 'light'.
  • rhythmThe pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables, pauses and speed in a line of poetry or prose, which gives it a sense of movement.

More terms: Poetry

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