poet
noun
a person who composes poetry.
poet
1 American
[poh-it]
/ ˈpoʊ ɪt /
poet.
2
American
abbreviation
-
poetic.
-
poetical.
-
poetry.
poet
British
/ ˈpəʊɪt /
noun
-
a person who writes poetry
-
a person with great imagination and creativity
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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
Explanation
If you’re a poet and you know it, you’re someone who writes poems. Poets have been charming people with their words ever since Orpheus sang his way to Hades and back. A poet is a writer who regularly publishes poems, but a poet can also be anyone who uses language creatively. Try it! The root of poet can be traced back to the Greek poein, "to make." Some poets write in carefully metered, rhyming lines, while others compose looser prose poems or "free verse," and the very best poets convey something that's essential or true. The Romantic poet William Wordsworth described good poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.”
Vocabulary lists containing poet
Reading: Literature - Poetry - Introductory
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Reading: Literature - Poetry - Middle School
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Reading: Literature - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The day my classes were deleted in 2021, I did an emergency phone shrink session where my therapist reminded me that with stints as a poet, novelist and journalist, I was well-versed at reinvention.
From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026
"The discoveries from the excavations, especially coins bearing Homer's likeness, show us that the inhabitants of ancient Smyrna considered the poet to be one of their own," archaeologist Mehmet Akif Erdem said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026
A poet and rapper who once handled complaints about potholes and dropped kerbs for Croydon Council is now using rap and spoken word poetry to explain council policy to young people.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
Berger’s star recruit was Alexander Ruika, a talented young poet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
In a bittersweet twist, the first to do so was the inspirational astronomer and poet Zhenya Rudneva, of the 46th Guards.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
“To underscore the idea that there’s no one way of being a Black poet. That it’s all legitimate.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2025
“With both of those people there is what you might call a touch of the poet. They go deep very quickly and effortlessly. It’s not flimflam,” says Branagh.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 12, 2021
"I write like a black poet. I frequently write from a black perspective."
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2016
"Bob Dylan is a great poet. It's as simple as that," the academy's permanent secretary, Sara Danius, told The Associated Press.
From US News ● Oct. 13, 2016
“It’s the name of a famous poet. Edgar Allan Poe,” Cari said.
From "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Pérez
"I remember reading the Seamus Heaney poem Digging, and thinking 'why are we reading a poem about potatoes'. Now he's one of my favourite poets, but it was just another subject I had to learn."
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
A city willing to step on its poets is one confident in its memory.
From Salon ● Jun. 23, 2026
Nevertheless, it is clear that the poets valued Bloom as a critic and a person.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
Back in the early years of Stagecoach, there was a tent with the same name that featured a lot of cowboy poets and bluegrass.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2026
Does he really want to disagree with those who think that poets and artists stand on the shoulders of their predecessors, and accumulate knowledge about how to write poems and paint pictures?
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
