poetics

American  

[poh-et-iks] / poʊˈɛt ɪks /

noun

(used with a singular verb)

1. literary criticism treating of the nature and laws of poetry.

2. the study of prosody.

3. a treatise on poetry.

4. (initial capital letter, italics) a treatise or collection of notes on aesthetics (4th century b.c.) by Aristotle.

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poetics British  

/ pəʊˈɛtɪks /

noun

1. the principles and forms of poetry or the study of these, esp as a form of literary criticism

2. a treatise on poetry

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Etymology

Origin of poetics

First recorded in 1720–30; poetic, -ics

Explanation

The theory of literary techniques involved in composing verse and prose is known as poetics. If you study poetics in college, you'll read, talk, and think about a lot of literature. Poetics goes back to the Greek poietikos, "pertaining to poetry," or literally, "productive or creative." While poetry is evident in this word, you can use it to describe a deep study of any kind of literary work. When it's capitalized, Poetics usually refers to the title of a work by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, which is the earliest known Western work of literary theory.

Example Sentences

The combination of the Welshman’s grim poetics and the singer’s apocalyptic incantations gets the set off to a powerful start and signals something entirely new for the Charli XCX oeuvre.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 17, 2026

Described in the wall text as a “living matryoshka doll,” the collection of eight pieces shown on one model distills the V&R poetics: a powerful idea, a performance-oriented presentation, a sense of wonder.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 1, 2025

Gurlesque poetics is characterized by a subversive blend of the grotesque and the feminine, mirroring the album's exploration of femininity through a lens of defiance and subversion.

From Salon • Apr. 11, 2024

“I’m calling this the poetics of restitution, which is something I’m trying to explore in the work,” Julien said in a telephone interview from London.

From New York Times • Aug. 5, 2022

To say that sound matters in rhetoric for the same reason that it matters in poetics is not to say that it matters in exactly the same way.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith