as in poetry
verse that does not rhyme and does not have a regular rhythm
The author's free verse has a unique rhythmic intensity.
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Recent Examples of free verse
Rhyming poems, like Reed’s, have fallen out of style this century in favor of free verse.
—
Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 3 Feb. 2024
Like family feuds, squabbles among poets are too tedious to recount, but Wiman remembers being accused of commissioning too much prose, of privileging formalism over free verse, and of publishing vicious reviews and vacuous poetry.
—Casey Cep, The New Yorker, 4 Dec. 2023
The book, first published in 1927, is organized according to the calendar, with a passage of free verse that evokes the qualities and pleasures of each month, a small monochrome drawing nearby, and, on the facing page, a full-color illustration of the sort to draw fascinated attention.
—Meghan Cox Gurdon, WSJ, 16 Nov. 2023
His sentences come out as free verse, a sort of Rust Belt beat poetry.
—Popular Mechanics, 14 Apr. 2023
See All Example Sentences for free verse
Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 3 Feb. 2024
Like family feuds, squabbles among poets are too tedious to recount, but Wiman remembers being accused of commissioning too much prose, of privileging formalism over free verse, and of publishing vicious reviews and vacuous poetry.
—Casey Cep, The New Yorker, 4 Dec. 2023
The book, first published in 1927, is organized according to the calendar, with a passage of free verse that evokes the qualities and pleasures of each month, a small monochrome drawing nearby, and, on the facing page, a full-color illustration of the sort to draw fascinated attention.
—Meghan Cox Gurdon, WSJ, 16 Nov. 2023
His sentences come out as free verse, a sort of Rust Belt beat poetry.
—Popular Mechanics, 14 Apr. 2023
See All Example Sentences for free verse
Recent Examples of Synonyms for free verse
Noun
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The bulk of the day would be musical, but the recognition of the Haight’s roots in Beat poetry was essential.—
Dennis McNally,
Rolling Stone,
7 Aug. 2025
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In the kitchens of Palestine there is a kind of quiet poetry.—
Sami Tamimi
August 6,
Literary Hub,
6 Aug. 2025
Noun
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High-minded stuff like this could well result in something that’s as inert and exciting as, well, a pile of rocks, but Kossakovsky creates a thought-provoking visual poem that enlightens and nudges to consider a better future that respects structures and elements.—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
1 Aug. 2025
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Parker's Instagram caption, which accompanied a three-and-a-half-minute slideshow of images spanning the franchise's 27 years, began with a string of individual words separated by line breaks (resembling a poem, perhaps in honor of Carrie's writerly ambitions).—
Wesley Stenzel,
EW.com,
1 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Arthur bankrolled the building with $3 million in profits from his wildly successful 1924 operetta Rose-Marie, whose book and lyrics were written by his son Oscar Hammerstein II and Otto Harbach, with music by Rudolf Friml and Herbert Stothart.—
Thomas Doherty,
HollywoodReporter,
15 Aug. 2025
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Three guitars created interlocking ’80s-rock-style arpeggio support for the first verse in the final version, highlighting the pace while allowing the lyrics to dominate.—
Tom Roland,
Billboard,
15 Aug. 2025
Noun
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But Kantor wrote it in blank verse — little help for the script.—
Peter Bart,
Deadline,
24 Apr. 2025
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Onto the page spilled more than ten thousand lines of the richest and most resourceful blank verse in the English language, arranged into ten books in 1667, then rearranged into twelve in 1674.—
Merve Emre,
The New Yorker,
16 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Here again, DeLong’s analysis rhymes and aligns with recent research from Goldman’s Hatzius.—
Jessica Coacci,
Fortune,
2 Aug. 2025
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The substance of his program was taking names and phrases called out by his audience and turning them into rhymes.—
Richard Selcer,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
19 July 2025
Noun
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Liverpool’s forever No 20 was celebrated in song before, during and after the game.—
James Pearce,
New York Times,
16 Aug. 2025
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The whole concept of a jukebox musical — an original story told with songs people already knew well — was unknown back then.—
Chris Jones,
New York Daily News,
15 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Free verse.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/free%20verse. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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