1. The addition of one or more extra syllables at the end of a metrical line, beyond the normal metrical pattern.
Usage: technical term in prosody and poetry; also called hypermetrical or catalectic excess

Examples

• The poet employed hypercatalexis to create an extra unstressed syllable at the line's end.
• In some metrical analyses, hypercatalexis is distinguished from a simple feminine ending.
• The final line of the stanza exhibits hypercatalexis, extending beyond the expected iambic pentameter.
• Scholars debate whether hypercatalexis serves a rhythmic or rhetorical purpose in this passage.