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

At Charlie’s, a group of engineers presented me with a wooden plaque naming me the company’s poet laureate. — Claire Stapleton, New Yorker, 18 July 2026

In this new collection, Georgia poet laureate Chelsea Rathburn explores a hardscrabble childhood in Florida and her family of colorful characters including a sometimes-homeless bag lady and a notorious bank robber. — Suzanne Van Atten, AJC.com, 21 June 2026

The next poet laureate will receive a stipend of $6,000 per year. — Anne Gelhaus, Mercury News, 14 June 2026

Mary Swander, a 75-year-old theater director and former state poet laureate, fondly remembers learning to canoe and swim outdoors while growing up near the water. — ABC News, 4 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for poet laureate

• baccalaureate

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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