poet
noun
a person who composes poetry.
poet
1 American
[poh-it]
/ ˈpoʊ ɪt /
poet.
2
American
abbreviation
-
poetic.
-
poetical.
-
poetry.
poet
British
/ ˈpəʊɪt /
noun
-
a person who writes poetry
-
a person with great imagination and creativity
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of poet
1250–1300; Middle English poete < Latin poēta < Greek poiētḗs poet, literally, maker, equivalent to poiē-, variant stem of poieîn to make + -tēs agent noun suffix
Explanation
If you’re a poet and you know it, you’re someone who writes poems. Poets have been charming people with their words ever since Orpheus sang his way to Hades and back. A poet is a writer who regularly publishes poems, but a poet can also be anyone who uses language creatively. Try it! The root of poet can be traced back to the Greek poein, "to make." Some poets write in carefully metered, rhyming lines, while others compose looser prose poems or "free verse," and the very best poets convey something that's essential or true. The Romantic poet William Wordsworth described good poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.”
Vocabulary lists containing poet
Reading: Literature - Poetry - Introductory
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Reading: Literature - Poetry - Middle School
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Reading: Literature - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Maya Khosla, a wildlife biologist for hire and filmmaker and poet between gigs, was getting on-the-job training in a new role: detective.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2026
Earlier this week, the prizes for medicine, physics, chemistry and literature were announced in Stockholm, with the latter going to Canadian poet Anne Carson on Thursday for her modern twists on Greek mythology and antiquity.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
That attraction to compassion tracks with poet Megan Falley’s description of Bareilles as “unabashedly heartfelt.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
The poet from Amherst, Mass., was in her early 30s, a well-educated woman with a big library of books.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
“Leading her to the family vault of the Kanes … he knocked on the iron door, and repeated lines from the poet Longfellow’s “Psalm of Life.”
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
“Andrea was truly a rock star poet. So many of Andrea’s words have quietly guided me through life’s twists and turns- I will forever be so grateful.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2025
"To find beauty in ugliness is the province of the poet. The most beautiful defeat of my career."
From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2025
“It is an invitation to think. He’s a poet. He’s a political author but not a politician. And that is why Brecht will always have a future.”
From New York Times ● Jul. 14, 2023
“With both of those people there is what you might call a touch of the poet. They go deep very quickly and effortlessly. It’s not flimflam,” says Branagh.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 12, 2021
“Or was it the inside of almonds? The dude is a poet. I’ll tell you something else, Addie: The dude likes you.”
From "The Misfits" by James Howe
When his parents rejected offers to disinter and return his remains—declaring their son could have no better resting place than among his black troops—Shaw was transfigured from soldier to symbol, celebrated by poets and artists.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
It references a number of the city's poets, the punk explosion and bands and clubs of the time.
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026
Hosts of spiritual-minded sorts called it home: Alan Watts popularized Zen Buddhism in the ’60s, alongside poets Gary Snyder and Kenneth Rexroth.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
He carries his survey up to the present day and writes adeptly about three currently active poets: Alice Oswald, Sasha Dugdale and A.E.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
Who elected her queen of the poets anyway?
From "The Million Dollar Shot" by Dan Gutman
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
