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Sapphic and Greek Poet Sappho
The poet Sappho wrote poems of self-reflection but also of passion, some of it directed to the women attending the school she conducted on the Greek island of Lesbos around 600 B.C. Even though most of the poems survive only as fragments, they have been greatly admired for many centuries. They were written in an original rhythmical pattern, which has become known as sapphic verse. Later admirers, such as the Roman poets Catullus and Horace, honored her by adopting the sapphic meter for their own poetry. Because of Sappho, the island of Lesbos also gave its name to lesbianism, which writers often used to call sapphic love.
Examples of sapphic in a Sentence
Leah Dolan, CNN, 1 Mar. 2024
Alban debuts with this swoony sapphic romance about two young Victorian women who decide to Parent Trap their widowed parents instead of seeking matches for themselves (and end up falling in love along the way).
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 29 Feb. 2024
The 1920s painter who hid sapphic symbols in her portraits
By the beginning of the 20th century, Friedrich had fallen into obscurity.
—Catherine Hickey, CNN, 29 Jan. 2024
Aguilera asked after a sapphic moment with one of her dancers.
—Tomás Mier, Rolling Stone, 1 Jan. 2024
Big sapphic energy reverberates from the stage to the crowd and back again in an infinite loop.
—Erin Osmon, Los Angeles Times, 10 Oct. 2023
First up is Anna Burke’s sapphic paranormal IN THE ROSES OF PIERIA (Bywater Books, ebook, $8.99), in which the historian Clara Eden leaves her dead-end college job for a post as an archivist, cataloging a private collection of artifacts for a mysterious woman named Agatha.
—Olivia Waite, New York Times, 28 Sep. 2023
And the recent months haven’t all been about endings or stressful changes There are new saplings taking root, right alongside sturdy sapphic oaks like Sinister Wisdom, Curve Magazine, and Autostraddle.
—Sara Youngblood Gregory, The New Republic, 7 Sep. 2023
This is a sapphic, contemporary romance with characters in their 30s and 40s grappling with past toxic relationships, loss of parents, and anxiety about feeling directionless in life.
—Novel Neighbor, USA TODAY, 28 June 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sapphic.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near sapphic
Cite this Entry
“Sapphic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sapphic. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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