villanelle

noun

Definition of villanellenext
as in sonnet

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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 villanelle Not unlike the rules of the villanelle, which are here applied with less than perfect rigor. — New York Times, 28 May 2026 From the sixteenth to the nineteenth century, villanelle was simply the French term for an Italian country song, and during the Renaissance, poets often used the title for their work regardless of a poem’s specific structure. — The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 19 Aug. 2025 Elongated and paved with bricks, the path is a closed form, a kind of physical villanelle that thwarts the experience of continuity or the feeling of finitude. — Hamilton Cain, BostonGlobe.com, 2 Mar. 2023 Susan Kinsolving’s villanelle obsessively circles the same two rhymes, keeping pace with the anxiety of a mind trying to cope. — Clare Bucknell, The New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2020 Her own verse often drew on classical forms such as the villanelle, sestina, tritina and sonnet, and sometimes incorporated references to ancient mythology and medieval legend. — Harrison Smith, Washington Post, 8 July 2019 But then, rarely does an individual strip contain a complete and proper villanelle about food. — Wired Blogs, WIRED, 22 Sep. 2006
Recent Examples of Synonyms for villanelle
  1. sonnet
  2. poem
  3. limerick
  4. epigram
  5. elegy
  6. psalm
  7. ode
  8. madrigal
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
  • And for me, poems, especially these sorts of poems in this collection, are time capsules.
    — Terry Gross, NPR, 14 Aug. 2026
  • For Fried is, as his poems prove, a writer attuned to the shape of thought and the sound of a word.
    — Carlos Valladares, ARTnews.com, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of poem
Noun
  • The study picked 10 commercial large language models by top tech companies — including Meta, Anthropic and OpenAI — and asked the AI systems to make critical pamphlets, write limericks, give reasons if someone should join protests, and more.
    — Didi Tang, Fortune, 16 July 2026
  • He was also known for his haikus and limericks, including some written to summarize ethics.
    — Elliott Wenzler, Denver Post, 2 Apr. 2026
Definition of limerick
Noun
  • By greatly expanding the dimensions of his images, with their muted palettes, tight cropping, found symmetries, and laconic wit, had the maestro of the photographic epigram betrayed his subtractive aesthetic?
    — James Quandt, Artforum, 2 June 2026
  • Johnson is the author of the epigrams, but Boswell is very much the co-author.
    — David Frum, The Atlantic, 27 May 2026
Definition of epigram
Noun
  • But that selflessness comes to feel like the point of this lingering, resonantly sad film — above all else, an elegy for lives unseen and unknown.
    — Guy Lodge, Variety, 23 July 2026
  • What begins as a novel ostensibly about ‘cancel culture’ quickly shifts into a rueful elegy for a dying world.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 23 July 2026
Definition of elegy
Noun
  • But presiding over his daughter’s outdoor wedding helped, fulfilling another psalm’s promise.
    — Peter Smith, Los Angeles Times, 29 July 2026
  • The word appears 71 times across 39 of the 150 psalms, especially in ones written by David.
    — Drew Goins, The Atlantic, 28 July 2026
Definition of psalm
Noun
  • There’s an ode to Mary Richardson, the 20th century feminist radical from Mouzourakis’ native Canada.
    — Selena Fragassi, SPIN, 5 Aug. 2026
  • Decades after artists like Pablo Picasso and Jean Cocteau visited the town, in 1953, John Steinbeck wrote an ode to Positano for an 1953 issue of Harper’s Bazaar.
    — Elise Taylor, Vanity Fair, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of ode
Noun
  • The concert will include Renaissance madrigals—one English and one French.
    — Myrna Petlicki, Chicago Tribune, 2 Mar. 2026
  • This is a lovely fundraiser to assist in the preservation of the cemetery, and the day is filled with master gardeners offering advice, madrigals singing, an archaeology talk, refreshments, kids’ activities and lots of lovely spring plants for sale.
    — Janet Kusterer, Baltimore Sun, 25 Mar. 2025
Definition of madrigal

Browse Nearby Words

villainy
villanelle
villanelles
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Cite this Entry

“Villanelle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/villanelle. Accessed 16 Aug. 2026.

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