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• ode
  ode

  noun

  a lyric poem typically of elaborate or irregular metrical form and expressive of exalted or enthusiastic emotion.
• -ode
  -ode

  a suffix of nouns, appearing in loanwords from Greek, where it meant “like”; used in the formation of compound words.

ode

¹ American  

[ohd] / oʊd /

noun

• odes
  plural

1. a lyric poem typically of elaborate or irregular metrical form and expressive of exalted or enthusiastic emotion.

2. (originally) a poem intended to be sung.

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-ode ² American  

1. a suffix of nouns, appearing in loanwords from Greek, where it meant “like”; used in the formation of compound words.

   phyllode.

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-ode ³ American  

1. a combining form meaning “way,” “road,” used in the formation of compound words.

   anode; electrode.

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-ode ¹ British  

combining form

1. denoting a path or way

   electrode

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-ode ² British  

combining form

1. denoting resemblance

   nematode

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ode ³ British  

/ əʊd /

noun

1. a lyric poem, typically addressed to a particular subject, with lines of varying lengths and complex rhythms See also Horatian ode Pindaric ode

2. (formerly) a poem meant to be sung

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ode Cultural  

1. A kind of poem devoted to the praise of a person, animal, or thing. An ode is usually written in an elevated style and often expresses deep feeling. An example is “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” by John Keats.

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Usage

What else does ode mean? In literature, an ode is a type of lyrical poem enthusiastically praising a person or event. The slang ode, pronounced [ oh-dee ], is an intensifying adverb meaning "really" or "very."How is ode pronounced?[ ohd ] or [ oh-dee ]What are other forms of ode?odeeWhat are some other words related to ode?

• mad
• hella

What does -ode mean? The combining form -ode is used like a suffix that has two distinct senses. The first of these senses is “like,” and this form of -ode is very occasionally used in a variety of scientific terms, especially in biology. This sense of -ode comes from Greek -ōdēs, roughly meaning “smell.” This suffix in Greek likely comes from words that describe smells and is related to the verb ózein, which means "to smell."The second of these senses is “way” or "road," and this form of -ode is occasionally used in a variety of technical terms, especially in electrical terms. This sense of -ode comes from Greek hodós, meaning "way."

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• odes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of ode¹

1580–90; < Middle French < Late Latin ōda < Greek ōidḗ, contraction of aoidḗ song, derivative of aeídein to sing

Origin of -ode²

< Greek -ōdēs, probably generalized from adjectives describing smells, as kēṓdēs smelling like incense; base ōd- of ózein to smell, give off odor

Origin of -ode³

< Greek -odos, combining form of hodós

Explanation

An ode is a kind of poem, usually praising something. A famous example is John Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn." Apparently, Keats was really into urns. An ode is a form of lyric poetry — expressing emotion — and it's usually addressed to someone or something, or it represents the poet's musings on that person or thing, as Keats' ode tells us what he thought as he looked at the Grecian urn. The word ode comes from a Greek word for "song," and like a song, an ode is made up of verses and can have a complex meter.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ode -ode odes

For the romantics: Emily Yoffe’s essay “My Husband’s Other Wife” is a poignant ode to her husband’s first wife, who died of breast cancer tragically young.

From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2026

For the team behind "Onwards and Sideways," the film was essentially an ode to life.

From Barron's ● Sep. 14, 2026

The 85,976-strong crowd went through their celebratory songbook, dusting off their Cranberries-inspired ode to head coach Rassie Erasmus.

From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026

Whitney Houston’s powerhouse version stands alone, but Dolly’s quieter, mournful ode to her collaboration with Porter Wagoner is the artful, formative sketch to a colossal mural.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026

Jalil told her the story of Queen Gauhar Shad, who had raised the famous minarets as her loving ode to Herat back in the fifteenth century.

From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini

The weak preterits in -ode have all been leveled under the ed-forms, and of the three hundred strong verbs in Old English more than two hundred have become weak.

From Anglo-Saxon Grammar and Exercise Book with Inflections, Syntax, Selections for Reading, and Glossary by C. Alphonso (Charles Alphonso) Smith

Note 2.—In the preterit singular, -ade, -ude, and -ede are not infrequent for -ode.

From Anglo-Saxon Grammar and Exercise Book with Inflections, Syntax, Selections for Reading, and Glossary by C. Alphonso (Charles Alphonso) Smith

Month after month, spies secretly met in a secure compound to discuss rhyme schemes, structural forms and heroic odes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

Two horror-movie odes are “Chain Saw,” which has the LP’s fastest tempo at nearly 180 beats per minute, and “I Don’t Wanna Go Down to the Basement,” a romp on the fear of subterranean creepiness.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 27, 2026

Football "cannot be boosted by singing odes or telling stories", he noted.

From BBC ● Mar. 26, 2025

Its final stop was full of odes to L.A., where she performed her hit song “Celebrity” as more than 10,000 fans held up pink banners that read, “In the city of stars, you’re our celebrity.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2024

Many odes have been composed to Queen Orlagh’s beauty, although, if she’s anything like her daughter, not to her personality.

From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black