adjective
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of, relating to, or employing a strophe or strophes
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(of a song) having identical or related music in each verse Compare through-composed
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of strophic
Explanation
The adjective strophic describes a poem that uses the same structure for all its stanzas — the same rhyme scheme, meter, and number of lines. A song is strophic if all its verses are sung to the same musical melody. In modern poetry, a strophe is a stanza — a block of lines forming a distinct section of a poem. Strophic poems, such as ballads, are arranged in groups of lines forming distinct sections, often with repeated structural patterns. Strophic songs, such as hymns, carols, many folk songs, and children's songs, have verses that are sung to the same music, although the words change with each repetition — think "Old Macdonald Had a Farm."
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.
Mr. Redler’s score leans toward musical theater, with tuneful, rhythmic arias often built on strophic, deftly rhymed text as well as deep affinity with Maclean’s poetic diction.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
In the strophic numbers, Alsop ignored the example pointedly set for her by the very fine baritone soloist Elliot Madore, who shaped each verse of his solo numbers slightly differently.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 30, 2016
Rutter's carols follow the classic "strophic" structure, with a verse and a repeated refrain.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 22, 2012
Often the songs were surprisingly staid strophic structures; it was the composers’ choices of texts that give them their oddity, and the music, in turn, worked as a comic foil.
From New York Times ● May 4, 2011
Jazz standard song form — Jazz utilizes many different forms, but one very common form is closely related to the strophic and variation forms.
From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones
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