poetic licence
Artistic rule-bending
Poetic licence is the freedom to depart from facts, conventional rules, or literal accuracy for artistic effect.
Writers invoke it when bending grammar, altering historical details, or stretching plausibility: I'll take some poetic licence with the timeline.
The concept extends beyond poetry to any creative work where strict accuracy yields to expression.
Also spelled poetic license.
- poeticismOverly ornate expression
- figure of speechNonliteral expressive phrase
- metaphorImplied identity comparison
- exaggerationOverstating beyond reality
- bending the truthSelective honesty, misleading intent
twist · taking liberties · embellishment · freedom · leap · flights of fancy · creativity · imagination · dream · inspiration · expression · analogy · artistic freedom · versification · traditional ballads · literature · dramatic effect · dramatic flair
poetic licenceexactitude
Perfect correctness in detail
fidelity · precision · historical accuracy · by the book · letter of the law
poetic licenceinflexibility
Quality of being unbending
prescriptivism · paint-by-numbers · orthodoxy · conformity · straitjacket
poetic licencefactual accuracy
Truthfulness of claims
historical accuracy · journalistic integrity · verisimilitude · realism · unvarnished truth
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