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.

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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 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
  • Her language catapults from savvy banter to wild-eyed expressionist poetry, dripping purple across the stage.
    — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 6 Nov. 2026
  • An extra hour to chill at home would’ve been nice, but Frost’s poetry wasn’t especially dense.
    — Alana Kaufman, Time, 6 Nov. 2026
Definition of poetry
Noun
  • Its significance is closely linked to In Flanders Fields, the First World War poem written by Canadian military physician John McCrae after witnessing the devastation of fighting in Belgium.
    — Rich Percival, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Nov. 2026
  • The film, based — rather loosely — on Homer’s epic poem, released this summer and was met with mostly comic derision and a flurry of one-star reviews.
    — Alex Ritman, Variety, 10 Nov. 2026
Definition of poem
Noun
  • This is a musical in a very mainstream pop mode of supple but almost juvenile high voices singing banal lyrics to catchy melodies with rather bombastic production.
    — Dennis Harvey, Variety, 6 Nov. 2026
  • Even beyond lyrics, the sheer tone of a voice can communicate emotion so differently.
    — Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 6 Nov. 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
  • Many songs here invert the notion of a ghost in the machine; Shy assumes the role of the femmebot on the fritz, while the productions—overseen by Karma Kid and Casey MQ—are like the contents of a fertile petri dish.
    — Walden Green, Pitchfork, 11 Nov. 2026
  • That’s actually a very important song in entertainment history.
    — Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 10 Nov. 2026
Definition of song

Browse Nearby Words

free trade
free verse
free verses
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Cite this Entry

“Free verse.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/free%20verse. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on free verse

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about free verse

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