paean
or pe·an
a song of praise, joy, or triumph.
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.
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.
a hymn of invocation or thanksgiving to Apollo or some other ancient Greek deity.
Origin of paean
1Other words from paean
- pae·an·ism, noun
Words that may be confused with paean
Words Nearby paean
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use paean in a sentence
From the outset, we didn’t want this issue to be a paean to doomerism.
Most of us will first experience climate change through water | Mat Honan | December 23, 2021 | MIT Technology ReviewTodd Haynes’ bittersweet love story, impeccably adapted by Phyllis Nagy from Patricia Highsmith’s 1952 novel The Price of Salt, is a rich, glorious paean to New York in the 1950s.
11 Dark Christmas Movies to Watch If You’re Not Quite Feeling the Holiday Spirit | Peg Aloi | December 20, 2021 | TimeIt becomes a paean to writing like you’re running out of time and living like there’s no day but today.
The intertwined legacies of Jonathan Larson and Lin-Manuel Miranda | Constance Grady | November 19, 2021 | VoxHis paean to the “unimaginable power” of the prosecutor feels incomplete without any acknowledgment of how this mission can go awry or how that power is experienced by those on the receiving end.
An indictment of William Barr’s tenure as attorney general | Quinta Jurecic | July 9, 2021 | Washington PostIf the point was to create a paean to mediocrity, then Linklater has made maybe the definitive work on the subject.
He spoke movingly about his parents, got a rousing response to every paean to business success and American values.
Mitt Romney Rocked His Speech—Inside the Republican Convention Bubble | Lauren Ashburn | September 1, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTShockingly, this paean to the good old days did not prevail.
Immigration Ruling No Victory for AZ | Gabriel J. Chin, Marc L. Miller | June 26, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTA paean to the lack of “personal ambition” in the American armed forces?
Obama’s Speech Took Ideas From the GOP and Rhetoric From Madison Avenue | Lee Siegel | January 28, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTIn its modern origins California was paean to progress in the best sense of the word.
Its history, as composed by its own citizens, is one long paean of praise.
American Sketches | Charles WhibleyThe news spread like wildfire, and a great paean of triumph went up from a thousand throats.
The Siege of Kimberley | T. PhelanShall I not follow many an illustrious example and sing my modest paean in her praise?
In the Days of My Youth | Amelia Ann Blandford EdwardsIf Father Roland had known, he would have uttered a paean of joy.
The Courage of Marge O'Doone | James Oliver CurwoodSenator Whitten then launched into a paean of praise for the ancient art of preparing food.
The Model of a Judge | William Morrison
British Dictionary definitions for paean
sometimes US pean
/ (ˈpiːən) /
a hymn sung in ancient Greece in invocation of or thanksgiving to a deity
any song of praise
enthusiastic praise: the film received a paean from the critics
Origin of paean
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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