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limerick

noun

Definition of limericknext
as in sonnet
a humorous rhyming composition of five lines She recited an old limerick which elicited guffaws from the crowd

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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 limerick They were trained to repeat dirty jokes and limericks about Ed Gein and Jeffrey Dahmer to customers. — Rachel Hale, USA Today, 10 July 2025 There’s a person writing beautiful custom poems that are sort of dirty limericks. — Emily Leibert, Curbed, 2 Nov. 2024 Instead, what we’re served feels more like dirty limericks delivered at an excruciating pace by a bore with bad breath. — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 21 June 2024 In countless interviews, Joel has mused that the waltzing chord progression is monotonous and the lyrics akin to limericks. — Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY, 9 May 2024 See All Example Sentences for limerick
Recent Examples of Synonyms for limerick
  1. sonnet
  2. poem
  3. rhyme
  4. psalm
  5. verse
Noun
  • People can and should be skeptical about the sonnets written about starting NFL quarterbacks every offseason, when no one is getting sacked and almost everyone looks good.
    — Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 30 July 2026
  • The conventions ground the writing as meter and rhyme steady a sonnet.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 13 July 2026
Definition of sonnet
Noun
  • Each poem feels like the blinding-bright perception of one sublime minute.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 23 Sep. 2026
  • Instead of collectivity, there is a certain kind of animal community, or one that the poems’ speakers—children, old men, drunks, prostitutes—often stand apart from.
    — Max Norman, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of poem
Noun
  • Closets Without a Purpose Garcia’s definition of a closet without purpose is a space where belongings have piled up without rhyme, reason, or a clear system to help organize whatever is inside.
    — Jamie Cuccinelli, Martha Stewart, 15 Sep. 2026
  • Galtié also pointed out that the garden sits steps from the Vanderbilt Gate, a fitting historical rhyme given the family’s ties to Boucheron.
    — Thomas Waller, Footwear News, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of rhyme
Noun
  • Psalm 23 is numbered Psalm 22 in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate because of differences in how the psalms are divided and numbered.
    — Frannie Comstock, Encyclopedia Britannica, 26 Aug. 2026
  • But presiding over his daughter’s outdoor wedding helped, fulfilling another psalm’s promise.
    — Peter Smith, Los Angeles Times, 29 July 2026
Definition of psalm
Noun
  • The verse reads more like an encomium to Lamashtu than an effort to curb or cancel her devastating power.
    — Eleanor Johnson, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026
  • Is Rubin winging a lot of this interview or picking poignant verses and keeping the subject talking at all costs, amping him up like a hype man?
    — Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of verse

Browse Nearby Words

limelights
limerick
limericks
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Cite this Entry

“Limerick.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/limerick. Accessed 27 Sep. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on limerick

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about limerick

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