paean
Americannoun
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a song of praise, joy, or triumph.
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a formal expression of high praise, as a poem, movie, or monument.
This documentary is another paean to the mystical power and beauty of the ocean.
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an elaborate or excessive expression of praise; panegyric.
His restaurant review is just a long and not very interesting paean to his favorite ethnic cuisine.
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a hymn of invocation or thanksgiving to Apollo or some other ancient Greek deity.
noun
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a hymn sung in ancient Greece in invocation of or thanksgiving to a deity
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any song of praise
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enthusiastic praise
the film received a paean from the critics
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of paean
First recorded in 1585–95; from Latin Paeān, Paeōn “a Greek god, especially Apollo in his capacity as healer; a religious or festive hymn, addressed to Apollo or another god,” from Greek Paiā́n, Paiḗōn, Paiṓn “choral song, hymn, especially to Apollo,” personified as “the divine physician, Apollo”
Explanation
A paean is a hymn of praise or thanksgiving. You might sing a paean in church, where many hymns extol the greatness of God. Paean was originally a song of praise for Apollo, or Paian as he was sometimes called. You can now use paean to mean any song of praise, regardless of the deity, or to mean a formal expression of praise, like a eulogy. At your mother's birthday dinner, it might be nice for you and your brothers and sisters to write and sing a paean to her good-natured love and support of you over many years.
Vocabulary lists containing paean
Antigone
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"The Bells" by Edgar Allan Poe
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Poe's Favorite Words, collected by Charles Harrington Elster
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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.
His magnificent memoir is a paean to human agency a century before Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
You have scarcely turned the first page when you meet with Smith’s influential paean to the productivity-enhancing principle of the division of labor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
It’s a wistful, country-folk paean that offers both a wry yet realistic assessment of the disposition of collections someone leaves the planet.
From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2026
“All’s Fair” is a paean to the classic Hollywood movies Murphy adores, with its most direct spiritual influence being the 1939 adaptation of “The Women.”
From Salon ● Nov. 6, 2025
"Thank you," he said simply, but his tone was better than a paean of praise.
From The Trail of Conflict by Emilie Baker Loring
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.
