Sapphic
Americanadjective
noun
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Greek Literature. a verse using certain meters or forms used by or named after Sappho.
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Slang. Sometimes sapphic a woman who is sexually or romantically attracted to other women.
adjective
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prosody denoting a metre associated with Sappho, consisting generally of a trochaic pentameter line with a dactyl in the third foot
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of or relating to Sappho or her poetry
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lesbian
noun
Usage
What's the difference between Sapphic and lesbian? See gay ( def. ).
Etymology
Origin of Sapphic
First recorded in 1495–1505; from Latin sapphicus, from Greek sapphikós, equivalent to Sapph(ṓ) the name of a famous Greek poet ( see Sappho ( def. )) + -ikos adjective suffix; see -ic
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.
Romance: In “An Island Princess Starts a Scandal” by Adriana Herrera, a Venezuelan heiress has a few weeks to live her best Sapphic life before she must marry a dull man.
From New York Times ● Jun. 1, 2023
"I did not have Madonna comes out on TikTok by throwing underwear at a basketball hoop on my Sapphic Mad Libs Bingo card today, but I don't mind being surprised," says Autostraddle writer Heather Hogan.
From Salon ● Oct. 15, 2022
“Last Night at the Telegraph Club,” a Little District Books favorite, is an example of #OwnVoices that introduces readers to the Asian and Sapphic experience, two intersecting identities vastly underrepresented in literature.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 1, 2022
Ahn, an Asian American and Pacific Islander queer woman from Hawaii who’s attended many Sapphic Seattle events.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 2, 2022
On the other hand, we can find scarcely an ode in the Sapphic or Alcaic meter, which does not clearly betray its modern origin.
From The Civilisation of the Renaissance in Italy by Jacob Burckhardt
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
