Five-measure cretic is a metrical line containing five cretic feet or measures, each following the long-short-long or stressed-unstressed-stressed pattern. The term "measure" emphasizes the musical quality of the metrical unit, treating each cretic foot as a rhythmic measure analogous to musical time signatures. This fifteen-syllable line creates a highly structured, repetitive rhythm that is exceptionally rare in English poetry due to the challenge of maintaining such rigorous patterning across natural language. When employed, the five-measure cretic produces formal, almost hypnotic effects through its relentless symmetry, though sustained use risks monotony unless carefully managed with variation.

Five-measure cretic is synonymous with five-foot cretic; "measure" sometimes used interchangeably with "foot" in older prosody texts.