poetaster

noun

ˈpō-ə-ˌta-stər How to pronounce poetaster (audio)
Definition of poetasternext
as in poet
a person who writes poetry she's a poetaster whose verse never rises above what is found on greeting cards

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 poetaster Heti’s detractors could probably put a bottle in the middle of a table and entertain themselves reading lines out of context in suave, poetaster voices. — New York Times, 7 Feb. 2022 But -aster words have never been particularly common, with the exception of poetaster, an inferior poet. — Melissa Mohr, The Christian Science Monitor, 28 June 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for poetaster
  1. poet
  2. minstrel
Noun
  • Katherine Anne Porter City Lights, a bookstore and publishing house founded by the poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti in 1953, is closely associated with the Beat Generation of writers.
    — J. D. Biersdorfer, New York Times, 20 July 2026
  • There’s a long Greek tradition of setting modern Greek poetry to song, and the words my father sang came from the poet Manolis Anagnostakis.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 20 July 2026
Definition of poet
Noun
  • The musician-scholar Rhiannon Giddens, a leading interpreter of 19th-century American songs, told me that discussing Foster’s context is difficult because minstrel entertainment is so little understood today.
    — David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 2 July 2026
  • They were published in the North and South, performed in racist minstrel shows and polite parlors, and sung by abolitionists and defenders of enslavement alike.
    — Christopher Lynch, The Conversation, 1 July 2026
Definition of minstrel

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“Poetaster.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/poetaster. Accessed 26 Jul. 2026.

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