free verse

American

[free vurs] / ˈfri ˈvɜrs /

noun

Prosody.

verse that does not follow a fixed metrical pattern.

free verse British

noun

unrhymed verse without a metrical pattern

"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

free verse Cultural

Verse without regular meter or rhyme. Leaves of Grass, by Walt Whitman, is written almost entirely in free verse.

Other Word Forms

free-versifier noun

Etymology

Origin of free verse

First recorded in 1905–10

Compare meaning

How does free-verse compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

blank verse vs. free verse

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.

The history of art reads here as one long, free verse poem-in-progress, gorgeous and absorbing.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2026

“Joe Pera Talks With You” was, though, a free verse Midwestern ode to tenderness and wonder.

From New York Times • Dec. 1, 2022

Tanikawa is among Japan’s most famous modern poets, and a master of free verse on the everyday.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 1, 2022

Its 12 poems were written in free verse, meaning they didn’t rhyme.

From Washington Post • Apr. 30, 2022

“Looks kind of like free verse, doesn’t it?”

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

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