acrostic
a series of lines or verses in which the first, last, or other particular letters when taken in order spell out a word, phrase, etc.
Also a·cros·ti·cal [uh-kraws-ti-kuhl, -kros-] /əˈkrɔs tɪ kəl, -ˈkrɒs-/ . of, like, or forming an acrostic.
Origin of acrostic
1Other words from acrostic
- a·cros·ti·cal·ly, adverb
Words Nearby acrostic
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use acrostic in a sentence
I dabble in humor contests, cryptic crosswords, and acrostics.
Style Conversational Week 1443: The Ballad of Gary Crockett | Pat Myers | July 1, 2021 | Washington PostYou learn about the origins of jigsaw puzzles, acrostics and Archimedes boxes.
With playhouses dark, interactive theater online is lighting things up | Peter Marks | October 29, 2020 | Washington PostIt would seem to be impossible to doubt her identity after the acrostic of the Amorosa Visione.
Giovanni Boccaccio, a Biographical Study | Edward HuttonEach column is an acrostic of the name Martinvs Luthervs, making 80 scurrilous epithets.
The Book of Vagabonds and Beggars | AnonymousThe acrostic and the Chronogram are both ingeniously described in the mock epic of the Scribleriad.
Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 1 (of 3) | Isaac D'Israeli
Neither the acrostic nor the Alexandrine has the property assigned to it here.
Essays | Ralph Waldo EmersonA character is like an acrostic or Alexandrian stanza;—read it forward, backward, or across, it still spells the same thing.
Essays, First Series | Ralph Waldo Emerson
British Dictionary definitions for acrostic
/ (əˈkrɒstɪk) /
a number of lines of writing, such as a poem, certain letters of which form a word, proverb, etc. A single acrostic is formed by the initial letters of the lines, a double acrostic by the initial and final letters, and a triple acrostic by the initial, middle, and final letters
the word, proverb, etc, so formed
(as modifier): an acrostic sonnet
Origin of acrostic
1Derived forms of acrostic
- acrostically, adverb
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
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