poetaster

American  

[poh-it-as-ter] / ˈpoʊ ɪtˌæs tər /

noun

1. an inferior poet; a writer of indifferent verse.

   Synonyms:

   rhymester

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poetaster British  

/ -ˈteɪ-, ˌpəʊɪˈtæstə /

noun

1. a writer of inferior verse

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Other Word Forms

• poetastering noun
• poetasterism noun
• poetastery noun
• poetastric adjective
• poetastrical adjective
• poetastry noun

Etymology

Origin of poetaster

1590–1600; < Medieval Latin or New Latin; see poet, -aster ¹

Example Sentences

Heti’s detractors could probably put a bottle in the middle of a table and entertain themselves reading lines out of context in suave, poetaster voices.

From New York Times • Feb. 7, 2022

Asimov the poetaster and John Ciardi the poet might seem like an odd couple.

From Time Magazine Archive

He remained a hip poetaster, a psychedelic pushcart salesman hawking Oedipal nightmares like Good Humors.

From Time Magazine Archive

Alan Littlewood at 21 is a frail, girlish-featured, vain, romantic poetaster, with an acute inferiority complex and a touch of t.b.

From Time Magazine Archive

The heroic man, who could endure agony and insult, and even thus commemorate his sufferings, with no unpoetical conception, almost degrades his own sublimity when the poetaster sets our teeth on edge by his verse.

From Calamities and Quarrels of Authors by Disraeli, Isaac