free verse

noun

Definition of free versenext
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.

Related Words

Relevance

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 free verse The history of art reads here as one long, free verse poem-in-progress, gorgeous and absorbing. — Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr. 2026 Told in a first-person, free verse style, her struggle to overcome a family tragedy, an ecological catastrophe, and the Great Depression is harrowing yet hopeful. — Libby Monteith Minor, Southern Living, 28 Feb. 2026 Though most of Milosz’s poetry was written in free verse, no effort has been made to force the English versions into the complicated poetic forms the poet sometimes preferred — that would have required a different sense of obligation. — William Logan, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2025 The award-winning work, told through a mix of free verse and haiku, offers a poignant and nuanced look at a young person growing up Black in the nineteen-sixties and seventies, finding herself through the art of writing. — The New Yorker, 13 Sep. 2024 See All Example Sentences for free verse
Recent Examples of Synonyms for free verse
  1. poetry
  2. poem
  3. lyric
  4. blank verse
  5. rhyme
  6. song
Noun
  • There is also concrete poetry—writing arranged in images or geometric forms—a tradition that can be traced to ancient instances of shaped poetry.
    — Alec Mapes-Frances, Artforum, 1 Nov. 2026
  • Yet within those rhythms Malkovich does locate odd, narcotized flashes of poetry.
    — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of poetry
Noun
  • More than 40 years after making his directorial debut with Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985), and penning the poem that would eventually inspire The Nightmare Before Christmas, Burton is expanding his artistic remit once more.
    — José Criales-Unzueta, Vanity Fair, 4 Nov. 2026
  • Some were traveling to funerals, weddings and family reunions that the poet laureate commemorated in a poem written in minutes.
    — Maddie Connors, Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2026
Definition of poem
Noun
  • The results are most effective when the lyrics are tight and embody the colorful feelings that Greene’s music often evokes.
    — Kiana Mickles, Pitchfork, 23 Oct. 2026
  • The lyrics point to an understanding that change requires sacrifice.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of lyric
Noun
  • Despite the Borg and Klingons, Stewart still managed to make room for blank verse.
    — Mark Kennedy, Chicago Tribune, 29 Oct. 2026
  • This conservative approach has been encouraged in part by the blank verse, but also by a traditional reticence of scholars to take liberties with the evidence.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of blank verse
Noun
  • Unlike verses of later ballad traditions, collected in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Old English poets rarely used any kind of rhyme and appear not to have followed a regular meter or rhythm.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 27 Oct. 2026
  • The rhyme scheme is typically abcb, which means the second and fourth lines end in the same rhyme (b).
    — René Ostberg, Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of rhyme
Noun
  • The Jamaican musical style grew from an encounter between African and European traditions, and its banjos, guitars, hand percussion, and rumba boxes accompanied dancing, drinking, storytelling, and songs about life’s daily irritations.
    — Emma Madden, Pitchfork, 4 Nov. 2026
  • Per a bio, the sisters wrote hundreds of songs together and performed more than 1,000 concerts around North America and in Norway.
    — Erik Pedersen, Deadline, 3 Nov. 2026
Definition of song

Browse Nearby Words

free trade
free verse
free verses
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Free verse.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/free%20verse. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on free verse

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about free verse

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of abandon

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Old-Timey Vehicles

The Words of the Week - Nov. 6

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
woman sitting on floor holding book in front of her face on pink background
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz Needless to say, spoiler alert.
See All