lyrical
Britishadjective
Explanation
Something that's lyrical is beautifully full of emotion. Don't be surprised if a lyrical passage in the book you're reading makes you cry a little bit. The word lyric, and its connection to the words of a song, provides one hint about the adjective lyrical, which can mean "appropriate for singing." When a movie, book, dance, or work of art gives you the same feeling as the most beautiful music, you can also describe those things as lyrical. The musical connection goes all the way back to the Greek root word, lyra, or lyre.
Vocabulary lists containing lyrical
The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone
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The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 6
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Poetry
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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.
Lyrical saint Nick Cave was more caustic — notoriously so — when he shared how he felt about these boys of California’s endless summer.
From Salon • Apr. 4, 2026
Lyrical but not maudlin, the book navigates family disagreements, competing philosophies and different ways the human spirit can manifest in the human body.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 12, 2025
The song doesn’t appear in the movie, but it soundtracks a movie trailer created by Cole Bennett and his multimedia company, Lyrical Lemonade.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 8, 2022
Hugely influential, Lyrical Ballads helped turn English literature away from classical modes and forms derived from Greek and Latin poetry and towards the rural folk culture of the British Isles, particularly ballads.
From Slate • May 22, 2020
The causes, personal and social, that have given to Lyrical Poetry in our time almost exclusive favour in public taste will be dealt with presently.
From The Bridling of Pegasus Prose Papers on Poetry by Austin, Alfred
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.
