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Synonyms

blank verse

American  
[blangk vurs] / ˈblæŋk ˈvɜrs /

noun

  1. unrhymed verse, especially the unrhymed iambic pentameter most frequently used in English dramatic, epic, and reflective verse.

blank verse British  

noun

  1. prosody unrhymed verse, esp in iambic pentameters

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
blank verse Cultural  

  1. Verse written in iambic pentameter, without rhyme. Many of the speeches in the plays of William Shakespeare are written in blank verse; this example is from Macbeth:

    Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,

    Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,

    To the last syllable of recorded time;

    And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

    The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

    Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player

    That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

    And then is heard no more: it is a tale

    Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

    Signifying nothing.

Etymology

Origin of blank verse

First recorded in 1580–90

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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.

To a fellow-passenger on a liner who asked Aiken: "What's your line?" he replied: "Blank verse!"

From Time Magazine Archive

Blank verse they are not, because of the rhymes—Rhimes they are not, because of the blank verse.

From The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 6 Letters 1821-1842 by Lamb, Mary

Blank verse he thinks too slow in movement, and too much opposed in character.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 14, No. 81, July, 1864 by Various

Blank verse makes some approach to that which is called the lapidary style; has neither the easiness of prose, nor the melody of numbers, and, therefore, tires by long continuance.

From Lives of the Poets, Volume 1 by Johnson, Samuel

Blank verse, then, is the predominating musical form of Shakspeare's comedies, histories, and tragedies.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine - Volume 57, No. 352, February 1845 by Various

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.