as in poetry
verse that does not rhyme and does not have a regular rhythm
The author's free verse has a unique rhythmic intensity.
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of free verse
Like family feuds, squabbles among poets are too tedious to recount, but Wiman remembers being accused of commissioning too much prose, of privileging formalism over free verse, and of publishing vicious reviews and vacuous poetry.
—
Casey Cep, The New Yorker, 4 Dec. 2023
The book, first published in 1927, is organized according to the calendar, with a passage of free verse that evokes the qualities and pleasures of each month, a small monochrome drawing nearby, and, on the facing page, a full-color illustration of the sort to draw fascinated attention.
—Meghan Cox Gurdon, WSJ, 16 Nov. 2023
His sentences come out as free verse, a sort of Rust Belt beat poetry.
—Popular Mechanics, 14 Apr. 2023
In The Letters of Thom Gunn, a new, behemoth collection of private correspondence across six decades, Gunn grapples with his states of in-betweenness: between being English and American; between writing free verse and formal verse; between exercising emotion and rationality.
—Jeremy Lybarger, The New Republic, 17 June 2022
See all Example Sentences for free verse 
Casey Cep, The New Yorker, 4 Dec. 2023
The book, first published in 1927, is organized according to the calendar, with a passage of free verse that evokes the qualities and pleasures of each month, a small monochrome drawing nearby, and, on the facing page, a full-color illustration of the sort to draw fascinated attention.
—Meghan Cox Gurdon, WSJ, 16 Nov. 2023
His sentences come out as free verse, a sort of Rust Belt beat poetry.
—Popular Mechanics, 14 Apr. 2023
In The Letters of Thom Gunn, a new, behemoth collection of private correspondence across six decades, Gunn grapples with his states of in-betweenness: between being English and American; between writing free verse and formal verse; between exercising emotion and rationality.
—Jeremy Lybarger, The New Republic, 17 June 2022
See all Example Sentences for free verse
Recent Examples of Synonyms for free verse
Noun
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So, he got rid of the academia and the poetry, which appear to have been fairly important to the novel’s overall effect.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
26 Jan. 2025
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And then, of course, it’s interwoven with their poetry, which is just relentlessly moving.—
Dan Allen,
NBC News,
24 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Purple: Commander-In-Chief names if they were put into a rap or poem.—
Raul A. Reyes,
Newsweek,
23 Jan. 2025
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The strategy is less effective for improving outputs such as poems or translations, in which ranking is subjective.—
Lauren Leffer,
Scientific American,
23 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Unlike the final version released on his 2004 album Dear Heather, this handwritten page includes lyrics penned in Cohen's own hand in purple marker, offering a deeper look at his lyrical experimentation.—
Anders Fogh Rasmussen,
Newsweek,
5 Feb. 2025
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When an artist expresses interest in covering their song for The Sims, Gratz will listen through the song and then create a draft of Simlish lyrics for the artist to riff off of.—
Sara Belcher,
People.com,
4 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Onto the page spilled more than ten thousand lines of the richest and most resourceful blank verse in the English language, arranged into ten books in 1667, then rearranged into twelve in 1674.—
Merve Emre,
The New Yorker,
16 Dec. 2024
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The first assignment was to write a poem in blank verse.—
Elizabeth Lund,
The Christian Science Monitor,
12 Sep. 2024
Noun
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But Drake understandably didn’t fire off his lawsuit then, as ricochets from rich college quads (hip-hop’s prime audience) could have killed his image even more than Lamar’s rhymes did.—
Bill Hochberg,
Forbes,
17 Jan. 2025
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His rhymes are well written, well executed, and spit with intention.—
Kyle Eustice,
SPIN,
6 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The many pages of song lyrics offered in this auction really give a sense of the intense working dynamic between us.—
Anders Fogh Rasmussen,
Newsweek,
5 Feb. 2025
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Their earliest videos include behind-the-scenes of their genre-blending process and remixes of popular Latin songs with new lyrics.—
Cerys Davies,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Feb. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Free verse.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/free%20verse. Accessed 8 Feb. 2025.
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