poet

¹ American  

[poh-it] / ˈpoʊ ɪt /

noun

1. a person who composes poetry.

   Synonyms:

   bard, versifier

2. a person who has the gift of poetic thought, imagination, and creation, together with eloquence of expression.

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poet. ² American  

abbreviation

1. poetic.

2. poetical.

3. poetry.

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poet British  

/ ˈpəʊɪt /

noun

1. a person who writes poetry

2. a person with great imagination and creativity

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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

Example Sentences

Ms. Lewin is particularly suspicious of Keats House in London’s Hampstead, where the poet lived for less than two years, hardly long enough to leave a material impression on his surroundings.

From The Wall Street Journal

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

The building is called the Virgil, which indicates that at least someone in the filmmaking process has heard of Dante’s “Inferno,” in which the Roman poet appears as hell’s tour guide.

From The Wall Street Journal

That long-ago mishmash of horses, poets and peacemakers seems quaint today.

From The Wall Street Journal

Alongside the sound of birds, the Port Talbot-born actor recited lines from the first and second verses of Fern Hill by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas while on a visit back to his homeland.

From BBC

Related Words

• artist
• author
• dramatist
• lyricist
• writer