poetic
Like verse, perhaps
Poetic describes what relates to or resembles poetry: poetic language, poetic imagery.
Beyond the literal, poetic suggests elevated expression, emotional resonance, or artistic beauty: There was something poetic about the way the light fell.
Poetic justice is an outcome where virtue is rewarded and vice punished in fitting ways—the kind of tidy resolution found more often in verse than in life.
Matching initial consonants
- assonanceVowel sound repetition
- consonanceHarmonious sound combination
- rhymeMatching terminal sounds
- onomatopoeiaSound-imitating word formation
euphony · cacophony · sibilance · repetition · anaphora · resonance · musicality · mellifluous
Fourteen-line metered poem
- haikuJapanese seventeen-syllable verse
- elegyPoem lamenting the departed
- odeLaudatory verse form
- balladNarrative poem or song
villanelle · sestina · limerick · couplet · quatrain · stanza · verse · epic
Device that measures usage
- cadenceRhythmic pulse or pattern
- iambicVerse rhythm type
- pentameterFive-foot poetic line
- scansionAnalyzing verse rhythm patterns
prosody · trochee · dactyl · anapest · spondee · hexameter · foot · stressed
Implied identity comparison
- simileComparison via "as"
- imageryVivid descriptive language
- symbolismRepresenting concepts through images
- personificationAttributing humanity to non-humans
allegory · allusion · metonymy · synecdoche · hyperbole · apostrophe · conceit · analogy
Tending to summon memories
- vividIntensely clear and bright
- picturesqueVisually pleasing, paintable
- luminousEmitting or reflecting light
- etherealDelicate beyond earthly measure
sublime · elegant · graceful · haunting · delicate · transcendent · ineffable · enchanting
alliteration
Matching initial consonants
- assonanceVowel sound repetition
- consonanceHarmonious sound combination
- rhymeMatching terminal sounds
onomatopoeia · euphony · cacophony · sibilance · repetition · anaphora · resonance · musicality · mellifluous · lyrical
sonnet
Fourteen-line metered poem
ballad · villanelle · sestina · limerick · couplet · quatrain · stanza · verse · epic · tanka
meter
Device that measures usage
- cadenceRhythmic pulse or pattern
- iambicVerse rhythm type
- pentameterFive-foot poetic line
scansion · prosody · trochee · dactyl · anapest · spondee · hexameter · foot · stressed · unstressed
metaphor
Implied identity comparison
- simileComparison via "as"
- imageryVivid descriptive language
- symbolismRepresenting concepts through images
personification · allegory · allusion · metonymy · synecdoche · hyperbole · apostrophe · conceit · analogy · irony
evocative
Tending to summon memories
- vividIntensely clear and bright
- picturesqueVisually pleasing, paintable
- luminousEmitting or reflecting light
ethereal · sublime · elegant · graceful · haunting · delicate · transcendent · ineffable · enchanting · dreamlike
melancholy
Subdued, lasting sadness
wistfulness · sorrow · heartache · serenity · bliss · euphoria · pathos · sentimentality · whimsy · fervor
- writing stylesformal, informal, minimalism, maximalism, concise
- literary adjectiveslyrical, prosaic, narrative, elegiac, epistolary
- literary stylespastoral, lyrical prose, satirical, lyrical, epistolary
- prose qualitiesclarity, eloquence, coherence, conciseness, flow
- creative traitscreative, imaginative, inventive, innovative, original
- descriptive wordsadjective, adverb, vivid, detailed, colorful
poeticprose
Unversified language
prosaic · nonpoetic · unpoetic · expository · unpoetical
poeticliteral
Meaning exactly what's said
matter-of-fact · prosaic · factual · unimaginative · plain
poeticprosaic
Lacking imagination or excitement
mundane · unromantic · pragmatic · utilitarian · earthbound
- waxing poeticSpeaking with heightened eloquence
- nonsense poetryPlayfully meaningless literary form
- poetic justiceFitting outcome matching misdeeds
- war poetryVerse about armed conflict
- traditional poetryFormally structured literary verse
- poetry in motionEffortlessly beautiful movement
poet, poetry, poetical, poetically, poetess, poetics, unpoetic, poeticize, poetic justice