An acatalectic line of verse is a line of poetry that has the correct number of syllables in its final part. In English poetry, this term is not often used because acatalectic lines are the usual type in most metrical forms. For example, Shakespeare’s sonnets are written in iambic pentameter, which is acatalectic by default. It is not necessary to mention this unless the line is catalectic, meaning it has fewer syllables than expected.

In some cases, such as with English trochaic tetrameter or when comparing acatalectic lines to nearby catalectic ones, the term may be used to describe a line’s full metrical structure. In poetry written in languages other than English, the term can be more helpful. For instance, in Polish poetry, acatalectic iambic lines are uncommon because poems often end with longer sounds, called feminine endings. This means that iambic pentameter in Polish is usually 11 syllables long, not 10.