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lyrics

noun

plural of lyric
1
as in poems
a composition using rhythm and often rhyme to create a lyrical effect would you care to read your short lyric aloud?

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in songs
a short musical composition for the human voice often with instrumental accompaniment the guitarist sang a gentle lyric while playing

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 lyrics From lyrics of songs on the 2025 album Guardians of the Threshold, a collaboration by the Israeli rappers the Shadow and Subliminal. — J. B. MacKinnon, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026 Lena Dunham is adapting the musical’s book with Jessica Huang, while Jepsen is writing the music and lyrics with Ethan Gruska, whose credits include Ryan Beatty, Fiona Apple and Phoebe Bridgers. — Steven J. Horowitz, Variety, 21 Sep. 2026 Not to mention, its lyrics are equally as enjoyable as the production. — Los Angeles Times, 21 Sep. 2026 With its fragile acoustic melodies, desolate lyrics, and spare, subtle studio accompaniment, Ride Lonesome is like Nick Drake’s mumble-folk masterpiece Bryter Layter as the work of a lovelorn Laurel Canyon soft-rock poet. — Jon Dolan, Rolling Stone, 18 Sep. 2026 Sheik, who also supplied lyrics, recalled only getting halfway through the book before throwing it across the room as a Brown University student. — Mark Kennedy, Chicago Tribune, 18 Sep. 2026 Sheik’s influences ranged from Joni Mitchell and the Cocteau Twins to Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, while his lyrics drew on Buddhist philosophy and existential questions. — Spin Staff, SPIN, 18 Sep. 2026 The 1984 musical features music and lyrics by Sondheim and a book by James Lapine. — Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 14 Sep. 2026 The more the lyrics swish around, the more their implications start to weigh. — Carlos Valladares, ARTnews.com, 11 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lyrics
  1. poems
  2. songs
  3. ballads
  4. vocals
  5. hymns
Noun
  • 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
  • The poems push against the binaries of leaving and being left and embrace ongoing love in the wake of loss.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of poems
Noun
  • The songs were a dangerous dance with gender, sexuality, and race.
    — Josephine Reisman, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2026
  • For how long depends on both how much the songs connect, and how motivated Team Swift is to continue to promote and sell the hell out of them.
    — Katie Atkinson, Billboard, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of songs
Noun
  • Then there’s the entertainment team including a pair of dancers who tackle everything from the tango to bachata, a singer who goes for Alicia Keys-style ballads, a jazzy vocalist, and a piano player.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Sep. 2026
  • By 2017, Cyrus was covering her tattoos with makeup, wearing all white, and singing ballads of marital devotion.
    — Amanda Petrusich, New Yorker, 19 Sep. 2026
Definition of ballads
Noun
  • What’s dividing fans is Julian Casablancas’ insistence on using Autotune, as many prefer his raw vocals.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 21 Sep. 2026
  • After leading the Rain Parade, Roback started Opal with Dream Syndicate bassist Kendra Smith, which became Mazzy Star when Sandoval replaced Smith on vocals.
    — Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of vocals
Noun
  • In the southernmost car, dozens press together and sway in their prayer shawls to the hymns of the morning service.
    — Ben Corn, Christian Science Monitor, 19 Sep. 2026
  • The scholar of religion Friedrich Max Müller (1823–1900) noticed that many Vedic hymns praise different deities using the same superlatives and ascribe to them the same mythological feats.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of hymns

Browse Nearby Words

lyricists
lyrics
lyrist
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Cite this Entry

“Lyrics.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lyrics. Accessed 26 Sep. 2026.

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