poet laureate

noun

plural poets laureate or poet laureates

1

: a poet honored for achievement

2

a

: a poet appointed for life by an English sovereign as a member of the royal household and formerly expected to compose poems for court and national occasions

b

: a poet appointed annually by the U.S. Library of Congress as a consultant and typically involved in the promotion of poetry

3

: one regarded by a country or region as its most eminent or representative poet

Examples of poet laureate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

That won’t be the case with Lamar’s concert in Rwanda on Dec. 6, which will also feature artists from the region as well as the American hip-hop poet laureate. —Chris Willman, Variety, 3 Nov. 2023

Formerly Fresno’s poet laureate, Herrick teaches at Fresno City College and in the MFA program at the University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe. —Donna Wares, Los Angeles Times, 4 Nov. 2023

Before the season was paused, upcoming events included appearances by Richard Ford, John Edgar Wideman and Roxane Gay, as well as an event on Thursday featuring two former United States poet laureates, organized in conjunction with the Academy of American Poets. —Jennifer Schuessler, New York Times, 23 Oct. 2023

Olayiwola, 35, who was appointed the city’s poet laureate in 2019, said her goal for the festival was to showcase local and national talent. —Ellie Wolfe, BostonGlobe.com, 5 Aug. 2023

The album represented a perfect nexus point, marrying Westerberg the proud fool and Westerberg the humble poet laureate. —Chris Willman, Variety, 27 Sep. 2023

According to the city website, the poet laureate partners with the Houston Public Library to serve as a Houston ambassador expressing the city's culture, diversity, and ambiance through literacy. —Kennedy Sessions, Chron, 19 Apr. 2023

The first national youth poet laureate of the United States, Gorman was our April book club author. —Donna Wares, Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2023

The festival, organized by Boston’s poet laureate Porsha Olayiwola and the mayor’s office of arts and culture, was held at the Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building in Nubian Square and featured a poetry slam and talks by poets Ruth Lilly Fellow and Nate Marshall. —Ellie Wolfe, BostonGlobe.com, 5 Aug. 2023

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Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Video

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'Poets laureate'? 'Court-martials'? The curious history of postpositive adjectives in English.

Kids Definition

poet laureate

noun

plural poets laureate or poet laureates

1

: a poet appointed by an English ruler as a member of the royal household and formerly expected to write poems for court and national occasions

2

: a poet regarded by a country or region as its most outstanding