Auden

American  

[awd-n] / ˈɔd n /

noun

1. W(ystan) H(ugh) 1907–73, English poet in the U.S.

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Auden British  

/ ˈɔːdən /

noun

1. W ( ystan ) H ( ugh ). 1907–73, US poet, dramatist, critic, and librettist, born in Britain; noted for his lyric and satirical poems and for plays written in collaboration with Christopher Isherwood

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Example Sentences

W. H. Auden once wrote of a miserable Roman soldier guarding a cold, rain-soaked wall in northern Europe, mentioning "lice in my tunic and a cold in my nose."

From Science Daily • Dec. 21, 2025

Heaney grieves the violence, memorializing its complexity and horror in a poem that can stand with Yeats and Auden.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025

Auden or a passage from Don DeLillo to underscore an idea about politics.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 2, 2024

Auden and Chester Kallman, or the musical comedy presented by the Public Theater in 2013, with songs by Michael Friedman, Dehnert’s version does not use its songs to deepen character and propel the story.

From New York Times • Jul. 27, 2023

W. H. Auden’s celebrated definition has it that poetry is “memorable speech,” and Auden is right.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith