lyric

1 of 2

noun

lyr·​ic ˈlir-ik 

1

: a lyric composition

specifically : a lyric poem

2

: the words of a song

—often used in plural

lyric

2 of 2

adjective

1

a

: suitable for singing to the lyre or for being set to music and sung

b

: of, relating to, or being drama set to music

especially : operatic

lyric stage

2

a

: expressing direct usually intense personal emotion especially in a manner suggestive of song

lyric poetry

b

: exuberant, rhapsodic

… exploded with lyric wrath …

—Time

3

of an opera singer : having a light voice and a melodic style

a lyric soprano

compare dramatic sense 3

Did you know?

To the ancient Greeks, anything lyrikos was appropriate to the lyre. That elegant stringed instrument was highly regarded by the Greeks and was used to accompany intensely personal poetry that revealed the thoughts and feelings of the poet. When the adjective lyric, a descendant of lyrikos, was adopted into English in the 1500s, it too referred to things pertaining or adapted to the lyre. Initially, it was applied to poetic forms (such as elegies, odes, or sonnets) that express strong emotion, to poets who write such works, or to things meant to be sung. Over time, it was extended to anything musical or rhapsodic. Nowadays, lyric is also used as a noun naming either a type of poem or the words of a song.

Synonyms of lyric

Noun

• poem
• song

Adjective

• lyrical
• melodic
• musical

Examples of lyric in a Sentence

Noun

a song with a beautiful lyric

a poet admired for his lyrics

Adjective

they performed a slow, lyric dance for the audience

the film's lyric photography really enhanced its romantic mood

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Even as his Reddit-haunting admirers still parse his lyrics for hidden meanings, his spirit surely looks down on them with wry amusement at his fans’ unending search for profundity. —Alexander Larman, Time, 10 Jan. 2026

Cameron Winter’s lyrics have an air of inscrutable mysticism, but there is little doubt he’s supposed to be the one singing them. —Armin Rosen, The Washington Examiner, 9 Jan. 2026

Adjective

There’s a great scene where Lorenz talks about the musicality of lyric writing. —Damon Wise, Deadline, 9 Jan. 2026

Levinson has cited David Wojnarowicz’s haunted, unflinching writing on the AIDS crisis as an influence, and the lyric sheet is littered with pets and prayers and names of friends, giving their music the feeling of a community being preserved in song. —Sam Sodomsky, Pitchfork, 7 Jan. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Middle French or Latin; Middle French lyrique, from Latin lyricus, from Greek lyrikos, from lyra

First Known Use

Noun

circa 1586, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

1567, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for lyric

• pyrrhic
• stearic
• balearic
• empiric
• etheric
• satiric
• hemispheric
• panegyric
• stratospheric
• interhemispheric

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Kids Definition

lyric

1 of 2 noun

lyr·​ic ˈlir-ik 

1

: a lyric poem or song

2

plural : the words of a song

lyric

2 of 2 adjective

1

a

: resembling a song in form, feeling, or literary quality

b

: expressing a poet's own feeling : not narrative or dramatic

lyric poetry

2

: having or involving a light singing style