What does trochee mean?
A trochee is a basic unit of meter in poetry and rhetoric, consisting of one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable. Its pattern is commonly shown as / ˘, and the first two syllables of “apple” provide a familiar example. Trochees create a rhythm that can feel energetic, emphatic, or forward-moving, which is why they are common in song lyrics, slogans, speeches, and lines of verse. A trochee is the inverse of an iamb, the foot with an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one; poets also use a three-syllable pattern called a dactyl. The term belongs mainly to the technical vocabulary of prosody, but understanding it can help readers hear and analyze the structure of poetry and spoken rhythm. Although often discussed as a specialized literary term, it also appears in discussions of rhetoric and speech.
nounA trochee is a metrical foot consisting of one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable, represented as / ˘. It is the opposite stress pattern to an iamb and appears in many forms of English verse and rhetoric.
- A metrical foot or rhythm consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable.
"The word “apple” begins with a trochee: AP-ple."
"The opening of the line follows a regular trochaic rhythm."
"Her use of the trochee gives the verse a quick, forceful movement."
The standard plural adds -es: trochee becomes trochees.
"The poem combines trochees with iambs."
A trochee is the dance-step of verse: one strong beat followed by one lighter step.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does trochee come from?
The English word comes from Greek trochaíos, meaning “running” or “trochaic,” ultimately associated with Greek trékhein, “to run.” The word entered English in the early modern period as a term for a metrical foot whose movement was imagined as resembling a running step. Related Greek-derived words include trochanter, trochlea, and trochoid, reflecting the same broader family of ideas involving running, turning, and wheels.
Related word forms
How trochee is actually used
Trochee is primarily a technical term in prosody, poetry, rhetoric, and related fields. It is formal and specialized rather than everyday vocabulary; in ordinary literary discussion, “trochaic” is often more common than the noun “trochee.”
Easily confused with trochee
A trochee has a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable, whereas an iamb has an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one.
A trochee has two syllables, stressed then unstressed, while a dactyl has three, stressed then two unstressed syllables.