dactylic
/dækˈtɪ.lɪk/adjective, noun
dactylic is spelled D-A-C-T-Y-L-I-C: 8 letters. It appears about once in every 30 million words in written English, the 167,786th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, dactylic means “of or consisting of dactyls” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in dactylic?
| Letters | 8: D-A-C-T-Y-L-I-C |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 30 million words; the 167,786th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is dactylic?
Dactylic appears about once in every 30 million words in written English, the 167,786th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce dactylic?
- /dækˈtɪ.lɪk/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Neøn-dactylic.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of dactylic
- more dactylic comparative
- most dactylic superlative
- dactylics plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does dactylic mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
of or consisting of dactyls.
noun
- 1
a dactylic verse.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Dactylic in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Translations:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | dactylique |
| German | daktylisch |
| Portuguese | dactílico |
| Spanish | dactílico |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does dactylic come from?
From dactyl + -ic.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).