poet
1 Americanabbreviation
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poetic.
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poetical.
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poetry.
noun
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a person who writes poetry
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a person with great imagination and creativity
Other Word Forms
- nonpoet noun
- poetless adjective
- poetlike adjective
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 an excerpt from his coming memoir, “Adrift in the South,” Chinese poet Xiao Hai reflects on his part in the country’s economic miracle.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 13, 2026
I wanted to be a comedian, I wanted to be a poet, and I wanted to be a photographer.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2026
Guests in attendance included the actress Sigourney Weaver and the poet and novelist Sir Ben Okri.
From BBC • Apr. 8, 2026
But he articulated things that hadn’t been part of the American grain, becoming his country’s poet laureate of nature and ethics and its hippie Founding Father.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026
A Greek poet would never have thought of an elegant dress and coiffure for the wood nymph.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
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.
