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

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 feared that “The Mother” might repeat the mistake of “The Room,” the troupe’s staging of Pinter’s early one-act that only exposed an unbridgeable gulf in poetics.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 9, 2023

A half hour later, Werner and Frederick are reading Goethe in poetics.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr