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

Audience Award: Documentary Feature Come See Me in the Good Light Director: Ryan White, Producers: Jessica Hargrave, Ryan White, Tig Notaro, Stef Willen (USA 2025, 104) Spoken word icon and poet laureate Andrea Gibson navigates her final tour amid a devastating cancer diagnosis. —Matthew Carey, Deadline, 30 Apr. 2025

Comments The application window to become the city’s third poet laureate opened last week and runs through June 30. —Scott Maxwell, The Orlando Sentinel, 6 May 2025

Ada Limón reflects on her tenure as the poet laureate U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón reflects on her term and the urgency of connecting to nature through poetry. —Npr Staff, NPR, 3 May 2025

For Welcome is Orlando’s poet laureate, the city’s second one. —Scott Maxwell, The Orlando Sentinel, 6 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for poet laureate

• baccalaureate

Video

Is It 'Attorney Generals' Or 'Attorneys General'?

'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