poet
noun
a person who composes poetry.
poet
1 American
[poh-it]
/ ˈpoʊ ɪt /
poet.
2
American
abbreviation
-
poetic.
-
poetical.
-
poetry.
poet
British
/ ˈpəʊɪt /
noun
-
a person who writes poetry
-
a person with great imagination and creativity
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of poet
1250–1300; Middle English poete < Latin poēta < Greek poiētḗs poet, literally, maker, equivalent to poiē-, variant stem of poieîn to make + -tēs agent noun suffix
Explanation
If you’re a poet and you know it, you’re someone who writes poems. Poets have been charming people with their words ever since Orpheus sang his way to Hades and back. A poet is a writer who regularly publishes poems, but a poet can also be anyone who uses language creatively. Try it! The root of poet can be traced back to the Greek poein, "to make." Some poets write in carefully metered, rhyming lines, while others compose looser prose poems or "free verse," and the very best poets convey something that's essential or true. The Romantic poet William Wordsworth described good poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.”
Vocabulary lists containing poet
Reading: Literature - Poetry - Introductory
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Reading: Literature - Poetry - Middle School
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Reading: Literature - 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.
In 1998 Bloom told Cole that “there is no poet now writing in English under the age of 60 who is your equal.”
From The Wall Street Journal • May 29, 2026
The spiky succulents are signifiers of what makes the desert special to people, said poet Ruth Nolan, the Mojave Desert literary laureate.
From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2026
Chopra responded, “Nothing human is foreign to me,” attributing that to a “Roman poet whose name I forget.”
From Salon • May 19, 2026
Along the way, it names some of the country's biggest cultural figures, including musician Eugene Doga, author Maria Mirabela, and poet Grigore Vieru, who holds a very special place in Satoshi's heart.
From BBC • May 15, 2026
As she fell, Annabeth thought about Hesiod, the old Greek poet who’d speculated it would take nine days to fall from earth to Tartarus.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
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.
