Poetry Dictionary

Ever wondered what a specific poetic term meant? Below is a list of common words used to describe poetic elements and other attributes associated with poems. This is a poetry dictionary of sorts.

Alliteration

Starting three or more words with the same sound. Example: The crazy crackling crops

Assonance

A repetition of vowel sounds within syllables with changing consonants. Example: Tilting at windmills

Cliche

An overused word or phrase. Example: I'm so hungry I could eat a horse.

Homonym

A word that has the same spelling (or different spelling but same sound) as another, but has a different meaning or origan.

Hyperbole

A large exageration, usually used with humor. Example: The fish was a football field and a granny long.

Idiom

A language familiar to a group of people. Example: Ya'll comin' to da party tonight?

Metaphor

A word or phrase used to have a completely different meaning. Example: Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven" being a constant reminder of his loss and not truly a raven.

Meter

The accented and unaccented words within a line which are organized into feet. Example: Iambic pentameter

Onomatopoeia

A word imitating a sound. Example: 'buzz', 'moo' and 'beep'

Penultimate syllable

The next to last syllable of a word.

Rhyme

Similarity of sound in the last syllable. Example: Spoon and Toon

Simile

An expression that compares one thing to another using 'like' or 'as'. Example: The milk tasted like pickles.

Synechdoche

The metaphorical or rhetorical substitution of a whole for a part or vice versa. Example: Counting 'heads' as cattle.

Tercet

A group of three lines, often rhyming together or with another tercet.