sonnet

noun

son·​net ˈsä-nət 

: a fixed verse form of Italian origin consisting of 14 lines that are typically 5-foot iambics rhyming according to a prescribed scheme

also : a poem in this pattern

Examples of sonnet in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Some have suggested that the Bard had romantic liaisons with men, in part implied by sonnets that are charged with homoerotic elements. —Nathan Smith, Time, 26 Nov. 2025

By James Folta | July 17, 2025 Is Brad Lander’s original Shakespeare in the Park sonnet any good? —Eve Dunbar, lithub.com, 13 Nov. 2025

Seamus Heaney’s sonnets about Northern Ireland in the 1970s and Annie Ernaux’s memoirs of France in the 1960s propose indirect but approachable ways of engaging with personal and national history. —Walt Hunter, The Atlantic, 9 Oct. 2025

When women and men speaking Cervantes’ tongue are sent to concentration camps like the South Florida Detention Facility or CECOT, then what use is a sonnet? —Ed Simon september 22, Literary Hub, 22 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Italian sonetto, from Old Occitan sonet little song, from son sound, song, from Latin sonus sound

First Known Use

circa 1555, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing sonnet

• English sonnet
• Italian sonnet
• Petrarchan sonnet
• Shakespearean sonnet
• sonnet sequence

Rhymes for sonnet

• propionate

Kids Definition

sonnet

noun

son·​net ˈsän-ət 

: a poem of 14 lines usually rhyming by a fixed scheme