Shakespearean sonnet

noun

1. a sonnet form used by Shakespeare and having the rhyme scheme abab, cdcd, efef, gg.

Shakespearean sonnet

noun

1. Also called: Elizabethan sonnet.  English sonnet. a sonnet form developed in 16th-century England and employed by Shakespeare, having the rhyme scheme a b a b c d c d e f e f g g

Word History and Origins

Origin of Shakespearean sonnet¹

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

She could play chess, divide fractions, write in cursive, and do a strong-voiced recitation of at least three different Shakespearean sonnets.

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He consumed everything from “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill to Shakespearean sonnets.

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Carpenter then purposefully make fun of the outrageousness of her desire for her partner, when she busts out a line from what feels like a Shakespearean sonnet, “Where art thou? Why not uponeth me?”

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Bard did get a little gooey at one point when asked to write a Shakespearean sonnet and responded seductively in one of the three drafts that it quickly created.

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In less than a minute, the program had created in full a rhyming Shakespearean sonnet.

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