versification

noun

Definition of versificationnext
as in poetry

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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 versification Slathering your emotions across the page while crossing your fingers about the versification was what bad readers expected and what bad poets did. — Christopher Tayler, Harper’s Magazine , 17 Aug. 2022 But this is bad advice, as showy and even showoffy rhymes are one of the special glories of English versification. — Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 23 May 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for versification
  1. poetry
  2. poesy
  3. poem
  4. minstrelsy
  5. rhyme
  6. lyric
  7. free verse
  8. blank verse
Noun
  • There is also concrete poetry—writing arranged in images or geometric forms—a tradition that can be traced to ancient instances of shaped poetry.
    — Alec Mapes-Frances, Artforum, 1 Nov. 2026
  • Yet within those rhythms Malkovich does locate odd, narcotized flashes of poetry.
    — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of poetry
Noun
  • The collection evolved from there into Monica’s distinctive twist on some of her favorite antique and vintage pieces—charms, poesy rings and celestial motifs.
    — Beth Bernstein, Forbes, 8 Mar. 2022
  • Around my neck is my poesy ring 'adventure' necklace, with a locket holding my secret messages.
    — Will Kahn, Town & Country, 8 Mar. 2019
Definition of poesy
Noun
  • Writing a sermon—or a story, essay, or poem—is an exercise in risk and vulnerability.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Oct. 2026
  • Reading a book, a poem, seeing a painting or a sculpture, or even hearing the intro of a song.
    — Laird Borrelli-Persson, Vogue, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of poem
Noun
  • From minstrelsy to cake walks to the chitlin circuit, the audience has always been crucial to the context.
    — Lauren Morrow September 9, Literary Hub, 9 Sep. 2025
  • The minstrelsy of late-night-TV activism Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart protested the cancellation by CBS of his cohort Stephen Colbert’s Late Show by staging an appalling musical routine on The Daily Show, circling the wagons in Colbert’s defense.
    — Armond White, National Review, 25 July 2025
Definition of minstrelsy
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
  • The results are most effective when the lyrics are tight and embody the colorful feelings that Greene’s music often evokes.
    — Kiana Mickles, Pitchfork, 23 Oct. 2026
  • The lyrics point to an understanding that change requires sacrifice.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of lyric
Noun
  • There was no such thing as free verse until the late 19th century.
    — Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 23 June 2026
  • The poem’s narrative frequently shifts between different speakers and languages, and Eliot employed a range of styles and techniques, including free verse and stream of consciousness.
    — René Ostberg, Encyclopedia Britannica, 18 June 2026
Definition of free verse
Noun
  • 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
  • The piece has the pattern of blank verse.
    — Ray Mark Rinaldi, Denver Post, 27 Oct. 2025
Definition of blank verse

Browse Nearby Words

verses
versification
versifications
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Cite this Entry

“Versification.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/versification. Accessed 3 Nov. 2026.

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Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about versification

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