clerihew

noun

Definition of clerihewnext
as in poem

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of clerihew Easy to write and fun to read, entrants were asked to write a clerihew that describes a famous scientist or other person, or event closely associated with fire. — William Gurstelle, WIRED, 16 Aug. 2011
Recent Examples of Synonyms for clerihew
  1. poem
  2. sonnet
  3. epigram
  4. limerick
  5. villanelle
  6. psalm
  7. ode
  8. elegy
Noun
  • That’s one of the things in the poem that’s breezed over—the way in which the crew ends up getting killed one by one, despite his leadership.
    — Eliana Dockterman, Time, 24 July 2026
  • Both the card and the poem speak of juxtaposition and the ramifications of decisions.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 24 July 2026
Definition of poem
Noun
  • The conventions ground the writing as meter and rhyme steady a sonnet.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 13 July 2026
  • Tech was even still cool in late 2022 when OpenAI released ChatGPT and everyone started giddily re-doing Taylor Swift lyrics as Shakespearean sonnets.
    — Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 25 June 2026
Definition of sonnet
Noun
  • By greatly expanding the dimensions of his images, with their muted palettes, tight cropping, found symmetries, and laconic wit, had the maestro of the photographic epigram betrayed his subtractive aesthetic?
    — James Quandt, Artforum, 2 June 2026
  • Johnson is the author of the epigrams, but Boswell is very much the co-author.
    — David Frum, The Atlantic, 27 May 2026
Definition of epigram
Noun
  • The study picked 10 commercial large language models by top tech companies — including Meta, Anthropic and OpenAI — and asked the AI systems to make critical pamphlets, write limericks, give reasons if someone should join protests, and more.
    — Didi Tang, Fortune, 16 July 2026
  • He was also known for his haikus and limericks, including some written to summarize ethics.
    — Elliott Wenzler, Denver Post, 2 Apr. 2026
Definition of limerick
Noun
  • Not unlike the rules of the villanelle, which are here applied with less than perfect rigor.
    — New York Times, New York Times, 28 May 2026
  • From the sixteenth to the nineteenth century, villanelle was simply the French term for an Italian country song, and during the Renaissance, poets often used the title for their work regardless of a poem’s specific structure.
    — The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 19 Aug. 2025
Definition of villanelle
Noun
  • Take The Music Lesson, a study of a young woman playing the virginal, closely watched by a gentleman, which Graham-Dixon reads as a depiction of Collegiants chastely performing and singing psalms.
    — Clare Bucknell, Harpers Magazine, 23 June 2026
  • Over the course of Gregory Orr’s long career, his poems have become increasingly incantatory, more and more like chants or psalms, repeating, reformulating, reaching for the edges of the same rich metaphors.
    — Craig Morgan Teicher, Literary Hub, 1 June 2026
Definition of psalm
Noun
  • As for her hair, Electra’s waist-length tresses were streaked with red dye—a clever ode to the bloody slasher films parodied in the Scary Movie franchise.
    — Hannah Malach, InStyle, 15 July 2026
  • But in keeping with its protagonist’s difficulty staring at his feelings head-on, The Vampire Lestat—and the marketing that preceded its premiere—doesn’t start with ballads or sensual odes to far-reaching love.
    — Hannah Giorgis Yohannes, Vanity Fair, 13 July 2026
Definition of ode
Noun
  • But that selflessness comes to feel like the point of this lingering, resonantly sad film — above all else, an elegy for lives unseen and unknown.
    — Guy Lodge, Variety, 23 July 2026
  • What begins as a novel ostensibly about ‘cancel culture’ quickly shifts into a rueful elegy for a dying world.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 23 July 2026
Definition of elegy

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“Clerihew.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clerihew. Accessed 27 Jul. 2026.

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