poet

noun

ˈpō-ət How to pronounce poet (audio)
Definition of poetnext
as in minstrel
a person who writes poetry Emily Dickinson is famous as the poet who rarely left the house but often journeyed to the depths of the human heart

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 poet He is often understood, rightly and wrongly, as a kind of unfiltered confessional poet. — Literary Hub, 27 Aug. 2026 At Hull’s railway station an hour or so later, a few Manchester United fans are scanning the departures board near Philip Larkin’s statue, which captures the late poet mid-stride. — George Caulkin, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2026 Simeon’s Corey Randolph is a big guy with the soul of a poet and the hands of a sculptor. — Patrick Z. McGavin, Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2026 But the group had learned of the Phantom Orchestra, a group in Tbilisi, the capital of what is now Georgia, composed of musicians, poets and activists who had been barred from leaving the Soviet Union. — Maura Fox, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for poet
Recent Examples of Synonyms for poet
  1. minstrel
  2. muse
  3. bard
Noun
  • Davis shared her thoughts alongside a side-by-side comparison of the costume with 19th-century minstrel imagery, which perpetuated racist stereotypes about Black Americans and involved the use of blackface.
    — Daysia Tolentino, Entertainment Weekly, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Retailer Target pulled a children’s Halloween costume from its shelves Monday after widespread social media backlash, apologizing for selling a garment critics said evoked racist minstrel caricatures.
    — Nancy Jiang, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of minstrel
Noun
  • Rusty Chocolate Ella Bright has cemented her status as an eternal fall muse, thanks in no small part to her Off Campus success.
    — Alyssa Rotunno, InStyle, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Grace Jones has been a muse to Azzedine Alaïa, and Tracee Ellis Ross has gone from walking Thierry Mugler’s runway alongside her mother in the ’90s to being an inspiration to designers like Marc Jacobs, our 2026 Style Issue cover star.
    — Vanity Fair, Vanity Fair, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of muse
Noun
  • Before it was written down, bards recited the adventures of Odysseus and the Greeks orally.
    — Margherita Bassi, Popular Science, 19 Aug. 2026
  • Nolan sets the tone by opening with a bard (Travis Scott) beginning to tell the tale of the fall of Troy—at least the idealized heroic version that the bard’s audiences are hungry to hear.
    — ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 1 Aug. 2026
Definition of bard

Browse Nearby Words

poesy
poet
poetaster
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Cite this Entry

“Poet.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/poet. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on poet

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about poet

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