blank verse

noun

: unrhymed verse
specifically : unrhymed iambic pentameter verse

Examples of blank verse in a Sentence

the blank verse of Shakespeare and Milton
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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 The first assignment was to write a poem in blank verse. Elizabeth Lund, The Christian Science Monitor, 12 Sep. 2024 Through a stylish mix of prose, blank verse and illustrations, Last on His Feet captures these tensions with unsparing poignancy. Brandon Tensley, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Apr. 2023 Murder and mayhem without the blank verse. Los Angeles Times, 14 Jan. 2022 The blank verse brings vim to the proceedings, but there’s nothing in Trump, real or imagined, that could match Charles’ hubristic, bone-crushing personal tragedy. Demetrios Matheou, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Apr. 2022 Taking precedence over encomiums and recitations, costumes and nostalgia is the book itself, 710 pages of inner monologue and dialogue, stream of consciousness, blank verse, Greek classics and the venues and byways of Dublin, 1904. Los Angeles Times, 25 Jan. 2022 The book received plenty of praise, but many critics missed the point, describing Betts’s work as raw and gritty, when the title poem is entirely in blank verse — unrhymed iambic pentameter. Adam Bradley, New York Times, 4 Mar. 2021 This month, the recommendations include a long novel told in blank verse, Shakespeare plays turned into prose, a rollicking science fiction caper, and a bold memoir. Rochelle M. O’Gorman, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 Oct. 2020

Word History

First Known Use

1588, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of blank verse was in 1588

Dictionary Entries Near blank verse

Cite this Entry

“Blank verse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blank%20verse. Accessed 30 Dec. 2024.

Kids Definition

blank verse

noun
: unrhymed verse
especially : unrhymed iambic pentameter verse

More from Merriam-Webster on blank verse

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!