haiku
Americannoun
plural
haiku-
a major form of Japanese verse, written in 17 syllables divided into 3 lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables, and employing highly evocative allusions and comparisons, often on the subject of nature or one of the seasons.
-
a poem written in this form.
noun
Usage
What does haiku mean? Haiku is a traditional style of Japanese poetry in which 17 syllables are written in three lines, with the first line containing five syllables, the second line containing seven, and the third line containing five. The word haiku is also commonly used to refer to a poem written in this way. The plural is haiku, though it’s common to see people casually refer to haikus. For example:Haiku are poems. (five syllables)Haiku always have three lines (seven syllables)They often don’t rhyme. (five syllables)Traditional Japanese haiku often use natural subjects or imagery. This often involves using specific words that represent the seasons. However, for English speakers, haiku has become a popular style of poetry that can be about anything. Many people use haiku as a form for creating funny, entertaining, or absurd poems, using the 5-7-5 syllable format as a kind of challenge or guiding principle.
Etymology
Origin of haiku
First recorded in 1895–1900; from Japanese, from hai(kai) haikai + ku “stanza”; see hokku
Explanation
A haiku is a three-line poem where the first line has five syllables, the second has seven, and the third has five. The style originated in Japan, and while anything can be the subject, most traditional haiku are about nature. Here’s a haiku: "If you can’t pronounce / the word haiku, remember / big HIGH, little coo." The word haiku is a shortened version of the Japanese phrase haikai no ku, which translates as “light verse.” Most haiku are simple poems, often about natural wonders. They don’t always need to follow the 5-7-5 syllable rule, like this haiku from 17th-century samurai poet Masahide: "Barn’s burnt down — / now / I can see the moon."
Vocabulary lists containing haiku
Reading: Literature - Poetry - Introductory
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Poetry: Genres
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Reading: Literature - Poetry - Middle School
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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.
Anthropic itself has used distillation to create its smaller, faster models such as Claude 3 Haiku and Claude 3.5 Sonnet.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 28, 2026
The story “After the Haiku Period,” about batty twin sisters who lay siege to a slaughterhouse, reprises the material.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 14, 2025
Authorities did say the man was from Haiku, a small community on Maui’s north side.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 31, 2023
Because only one road leads in and out of the town, it took him three hours to escape and drive east to the Maui town of Haiku, where his son is living.
From BBC • Aug. 10, 2023
The following entry from the Salon Haiku Contest, seems to have predated popular use of the term: Windows NT crashed.
From The Jargon File, Version 4.2.2, 20 Aug 2000 by Steele, Guy L.
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.
