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

So yeah, highly intentional sort of hydrological poetics, and then, and then two complete surprises.

From Salon • May 28, 2025

“What seduces me is the oblique way you enter it. There’s a very lyrical approach to it, a kind of poetics of description, lighting, materials.”

From New York Times • Feb. 18, 2023

That is why, on the face of it, it is rather odd that he ended up being the great scholar of rhetoric—and, for that matter, the great scholar of poetics too.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith