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

Editors’ Picks The Very Territorial Caterpillar The Surprising History of Betty Boop Pacheco was named the New York City youth poet laureate in 2023 and was also designated the first youth poet laureate for New York State. —James Barron, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2025

Detroit has its first composer laureate, months after ushering in the city's first poet laureate. —Dana Afana, Detroit Free Press, 6 Sep. 2024

Joy Harjo Quick Center for the Arts, 1073 N. Benson Road, Fairfield Joy Harjo, the current U.S. poet laureate, gives a reading of her work, takes part in a discussion and receives the 2025 Denise Levertov Award from Image Journal. —Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 1 Mar. 2025

It was written by the national youth poet laureate, Stephanie Pacheco, who attends Borough of Manhattan Community College, one of CUNY’s 25 schools. —James Barron, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for poet laureate

• baccalaureate

Video

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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