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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Reading: Literature - Poetry - Middle School
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Reading: Literature - Middle School
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
“The poet must strike a match, light up the cold cosmos, and insist on the power of imagination over the universe of death,” M writes, rejecting disillusionment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
That triple-decker analogy comes from a scholar whose love for poetry runs deep, and who seems part poet himself.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
The day my classes were deleted in 2021, I did an emergency phone shrink session where my therapist reminded me that with stints as a poet, novelist and journalist, I was well-versed at reinvention.
From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026
"The discoveries from the excavations, especially coins bearing Homer's likeness, show us that the inhabitants of ancient Smyrna considered the poet to be one of their own," archaeologist Mehmet Akif Erdem said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026
The book fair accelerated the growth of an international trade in books, what the Jacobean poet Samuel Daniel called ‘the intertraffique of the mind.’
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
“But I love that song so much. It makes me feel like I’m living in a dream. She’s my favorite poet. I adore her.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2023
I realized, “Oh, the character is a poet. I’m going to step aside and let you, a poet, inhabit the character.”
From New York Times ● Apr. 20, 2023
“Culture isn’t dead. We have a governor who’s a poet. How great is that?” said Bushell, who has since published “Balancing Act 2: An Anthology of Poems by Fifty Maine Women.”
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 13, 2023
"I write like a black poet. I frequently write from a black perspective."
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2016
“She was a writer and a poet. She wrote a poem that is engraved on the Statue of Liberty that says, ‘Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.’”
From "Lucky Broken Girl" by Ruth Behar
He carries his survey up to the present day and writes adeptly about three currently active poets: Alice Oswald, Sasha Dugdale and A.E.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
Ashbery lived much of his life among painters as well as poets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
“I’m very grateful to the litigious poets who forced us to change our name,” Heiser adds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
"I remember reading the Seamus Heaney poem Digging, and thinking 'why are we reading a poem about potatoes'. Now he's one of my favourite poets, but it was just another subject I had to learn."
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
Who elected her queen of the poets anyway?
From "The Million Dollar Shot" by Dan Gutman
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.
