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poetic licence

British

noun

justifiable departure from conventional rules of form, fact, logic, etc, as in poetry

"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

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.

He wouldn't elaborate about any poetic licence being taken in the movie.

From BBC • Apr. 23, 2026

And while Johnny Rotten asserted dubious poetic licence in rhyming “Queen” with “fascist regime”, to sing about anarchy in the kingdom of Spain was to risk being taken literally.

From The Guardian • Feb. 11, 2020

You're in for a treat if you like your period drama served with lashings of schoolboy history, a few large dollops of poetic licence, and tastefully presented by someone wearing a comfy cashmere cardy.

From BBC • Dec. 1, 2017

Ah, no, he says, that is simply more poetic licence.

From The Guardian • Mar. 28, 2016

But finding me so dull and dry since, They’ll call it all poetic licence.

From The Battle of the Books and other Short Pieces by Swift, Jonathan

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023