paean
Americannoun
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a song of praise, joy, or triumph.
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a formal expression of high praise, as a poem, movie, or monument.
This documentary is another paean to the mystical power and beauty of the ocean.
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an elaborate or excessive expression of praise; panegyric.
His restaurant review is just a long and not very interesting paean to his favorite ethnic cuisine.
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a hymn of invocation or thanksgiving to Apollo or some other ancient Greek deity.
noun
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a hymn sung in ancient Greece in invocation of or thanksgiving to a deity
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any song of praise
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enthusiastic praise
the film received a paean from the critics
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of paean
First recorded in 1585–95; from Latin Paeān, Paeōn “a Greek god, especially Apollo in his capacity as healer; a religious or festive hymn, addressed to Apollo or another god,” from Greek Paiā́n, Paiḗōn, Paiṓn “choral song, hymn, especially to Apollo,” personified as “the divine physician, Apollo”
Explanation
A paean is a hymn of praise or thanksgiving. You might sing a paean in church, where many hymns extol the greatness of God. Paean was originally a song of praise for Apollo, or Paian as he was sometimes called. You can now use paean to mean any song of praise, regardless of the deity, or to mean a formal expression of praise, like a eulogy. At your mother's birthday dinner, it might be nice for you and your brothers and sisters to write and sing a paean to her good-natured love and support of you over many years.
Vocabulary lists containing paean
Antigone
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"The Bells" by Edgar Allan Poe
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Poe's Favorite Words, collected by Charles Harrington Elster
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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.
You have scarcely turned the first page when you meet with Smith’s influential paean to the productivity-enhancing principle of the division of labor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
It’s a wistful, country-folk paean that offers both a wry yet realistic assessment of the disposition of collections someone leaves the planet.
From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2026
Other backward glances include “As You Lie There,” a fantasy about a teenage crush that never blossomed into a romance, and “Salesman Saint,” a paean to Mr. McCartney’s parents’ coping with life in postwar Liverpool.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026
Emerging bluesman Sammie plays a song he wrote as a confession to his pastor father, a paean to the music he loves.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 23, 2026
His blood chanted a paean of praise and hope to the sun and moon and stars.
From Blue Aloes Stories of South Africa by Cynthia Stockley
Definitions 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.
