1. In prosody, having one or more extra syllables beyond the normal metrical pattern at the end of a line of verse.
Usage: technical; prosody; literary

Examples

• The hypercatalectic line added an extra unstressed syllable, creating a feminine ending.
• Poets sometimes use hypercatalectic meter to achieve a particular rhythmic effect.
• The final line of the stanza was hypercatalectic, extending beyond the expected metrical foot.
• In analyzing the poem's meter, the scholar noted several hypercatalectic lines that broke the regular pattern.