limerick

Comic Irish stanza

A limerick is a humorous five-line poem with a distinctive bouncing rhythm and an AABBA rhyme scheme.

The form is strongly associated with bawdy or nonsensical content: There once was a man from Nantucket...

The name comes from the Irish city, though the connection is obscure.

poetic

verse

Metered poetic passage

  • rhymeMatching terminal sounds
  • meterDevice that measures usage
  • anapestTrisyllabic metrical foot

stanza · couplet · tercet · nonsense · wordplay · puns · doggerel · recitation · bawdy · rude

humorous

joke

Humorous statement seeking laughter

  • punchlineHumor's final delivery
  • witClever, inventive humor
  • funnyProvoking laughter or suspicion

laughter · amusing · comical · silly · jest · whimsical · hilarious · clever · playful · mirthful

rhythmic

meter

Device that measures usage

  • anapestTrisyllabic metrical foot
  • cadenceRhythmic pulse or pattern
  • beatRhythmic pulse or strike

tempo · singsong · bouncy · jaunty · lilting · dactylic · stressed · unstressed · syllables · scansion

Irish

Shannon

Irish river or name

  • MunsterSouthwestern Irish province
  • IrishOf the Emerald Isle
  • IrelandNorth Atlantic island republic

Eire · Dublin · Cork · Gaelic · Celtic · shamrock · Guinness · Hibernia · Claddagh · Riverdance

Categories
Opposites
literary form

limerickprose

Unversified language

essay · novel · treatise · academic writing · euphuism

poetic form and complexity

limerickepic

Impressively grand in scope

epic poem · sonnet · ode · elegy · sestina

tone and register

limerickelegy

Poem lamenting the departed

dirge · sonnet · ode · epic poem · eulogy

Phrases
Family

limericks

Familiarity
Top 100,000
Profile
Known to kids · Used worldwide · Timeless · Everyday, not technical · Rated G