poet

noun po·et \ ˈpō-ət , -it also ˈpȯ(-)it \

|Updated on: 14 Aug 2018

Definition of poet

1 : one who writes poetry : a maker of verses

2 : one (such as a creative artist) of great imaginative and expressive capabilities and special sensitivity to the medium

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Examples of poet in a Sentence

Emily Dickinson is famous as the poet who rarely left the house but often journeyed to the depths of the human heart.

Recent Examples of poet from the Web

Keeping all of the people happy all of the time is impossible, so said no less an authority than Abraham Lincoln, who was credited with using the thoughts and words of poet John Lydgate, to express that message.

— editorial from the aegis, The Aegis, "Some are unhappy [Editorial]," 12 July 2018
Through Doc's recollections of his own writing as a dissident poet in the '70s, Monteras highlights the artist’s responsibility to engage with the problems of the world.

— clarence tsui, The Hollywood Reporter, "'Respeto': Film Review," 11 July 2018
The epics of the Greek poet Homer, The Iliad and The Odyssey, have been recited around campfires and scrutinized by students for 2,800 years, if not longer.

— jason daley, Smithsonian, "Oldest Greek Fragment of Homer Discovered on Clay Tablet," 11 July 2018
Bids for a bust of poet Carl Sandburg didn't reach the foundation's minimum.

— Fox News, "Lincoln Foundation's Marilyn Monroe dress sells for $50,000," 25 June 2018
Patterson also recommends kids read the work of Illinois poet Gwendolyn Brooks, particularly Annie Allen, about a girl growing up in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood.

— donna vickroy, Daily Southtown, "Summer vacation is no time to stop learning," 15 June 2018
Simon has long combined the soul of a poet with the inquisitive sense of a musicologist, and those instincts were on full display Sunday.

— brian mccollum, Detroit Free Press, "Paul Simon shines with musical vitality as he says goodbye at DTE," 11 June 2018
The book, as poet Walt Whitman might have said, contained multitudes.

— harrison smith, Washington Post, "Edwin Burrows, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian of New York City, dies at 74," 7 May 2018
As a poet, a lover of black comedy and a hip-hop head, many of my friends have careers because Russell Simmons’ Def Jam gave these art forms an international platform.

— michael harriot, The Root, "White America is 'Publicly Lynching' Black Men ... But Not Kanye, Cosby or R. Kelly," 3 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'poet.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of poet

Middle English, from Anglo-French poete, from Latin poeta, from Greek poiētēs maker, poet, from poiein to make; akin to Sanskrit cinoti he gathers, heaps up

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year