as in sonnet
a humorous rhyming composition of five lines
She recited an old limerick which elicited guffaws from the crowd
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Recent Examples of limerick
Like Andy Warhol’s soup cans, Slaughterhouse-Five, with its jokes, drawings, risqué limericks and flying saucers, blurs the line between high and low culture.
—
Susan Farrell, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 May 2023
The team started with sonnets, then went on to limericks.
—Quanta Magazine, 27 Apr. 2023
In May 1990, third-grader Taylor Burns sent him a handwritten limerick about a mouse found in a stew.
—Emma Balter, Chron, 4 Oct. 2022
Lines 1, 2 and 5 of a limerick rhyme with one another, as do Lines 3 and 4.
—Pat Myers, Washington Post, 18 Aug. 2022
See All Example Sentences for limerick
Susan Farrell, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 May 2023
The team started with sonnets, then went on to limericks.
—Quanta Magazine, 27 Apr. 2023
In May 1990, third-grader Taylor Burns sent him a handwritten limerick about a mouse found in a stew.
—Emma Balter, Chron, 4 Oct. 2022
Lines 1, 2 and 5 of a limerick rhyme with one another, as do Lines 3 and 4.
—Pat Myers, Washington Post, 18 Aug. 2022
See All Example Sentences for limerick
Recent Examples of Synonyms for limerick
Noun
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Her poems of that era — sonnets, epigrams, eminently quotable snippets of rhymed gossip — pulse with the dynamism and attitude of the modern city.—
A.O. Scott,
New York Times,
30 Apr. 2025
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The title is borrowed from Elizabeth Alexander’s fourth collection persona poems, historical narratives, jazz riffs, sonnets, elegies, and a sequence of ars poetica which examines the Black experience through the lens of the slave rebellion on the Amistad and nineteenth-century American art.—
Natasha Gural,
Forbes.com,
4 Apr. 2025
Noun
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That’s right, your last poem talks about replanting trees to help restore Tuolumne Camp.—
Kate Bradshaw,
Mercury News,
8 May 2025
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Their juxtaposition has become a kind of composition: The poem has become a kind of prose.—
Andrea Long Chu,
Vulture,
6 May 2025
Noun
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The Chinese writing system is almost entirely based on bad rhymes like this; Vietnamese scholars would stretch these rhymes further when adapting the Chinese system for their own use.—
Andrea Long Chu,
Vulture,
6 May 2025
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Or, there is no rhyme, reason or thought put into Trump’s word choices.—
Tony Maglio,
HollywoodReporter,
6 May 2025
Noun
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The funeral of Pope Francis began with a short musical chant and psalm spoken in Latin after an open Book of the Gospels had been placed on top of Pope Francis’ closed coffin carried by pallbearers from inside St. Peter’s and placed on a red carpet on the edge of the church steps.—
Nick Vivarelli,
Variety,
26 Apr. 2025
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The faithful will recite several religious verses, including psalm 22, ‘The Lord is my Shepherd,’ during the service.—
Caitlin Danaher,
CNN Money,
23 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Despite sporting a cast on his right hand that prohibited him from playing guitar, Rodriguez, then 65, was in superb voice and gregarious spirit, flashing his 1000-watt grin in between verses.—
Joseph Hudak,
Rolling Stone,
10 May 2025
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In a video posted by a fan on TikTok, Perry, 40, broke into the second verse after fans started singing the song to her.—
Daniela Avila,
People.com,
9 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Limerick.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/limerick. Accessed 24 May. 2025.
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