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To the ancient Greeks, anything lyrikos was appropriate to the lyre. That elegant stringed instrument was highly regarded by the Greeks and was used to accompany intensely personal poetry that revealed the thoughts and feelings of the poet. When the adjective lyric, a descendant of lyrikos, was adopted into English in the 1500s, it too referred to things pertaining or adapted to the lyre. Initially, it was applied to poetic forms (such as elegies, odes, or sonnets) that express strong emotion, to poets who write such works, or to things meant to be sung. Over time, it was extended to anything musical or rhapsodic. Nowadays, lyric is also used as a noun naming either a type of poem or the words of a song.
Synonyms
Examples of lyric in a Sentence
Rob Ledonne, Billboard, 26 Apr. 2024
The character has often been one he’s assumed to deliver his more aggressive and violent lyrics, which branded him as a controversial rapper from the start of his career.
—Steven J. Horowitz, Variety, 26 Apr. 2024
Its music, written by Jason Howland with lyrics by Nathan Tysen, is similarly a mixed bag.
—EW.com, 26 Apr. 2024
The lyrics — poetic shards that blur the line between the personal and the historic, the symbolic and the idiosyncratic, the living and the dead — swirl from the recesses of inner life.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 26 Apr. 2024
The collection includes books on her hero Frank Sinatra, Jackie Collins novels, bios of musicians who battled addiction (Anthony Kiedis, Jimi Hendrix), a copy of Allen Ginsberg’s Howl with an unfinished lyric tucked inside, and certain volumes with obvious wear and tear.
—David Browne, Rolling Stone, 25 Apr. 2024
Additionally, a 9 to 5 musical adaptation, with music and lyrics written by Parton, ran on Broadway at the Marquis Theatre for 148 performances between April and September 2009, per Playbill.
—Tommy McArdle, Peoplemag, 25 Apr. 2024
Voices layered lyrics about love, democracy and, most of all, revolution.
—Hannah Beech Adam Ferguson, New York Times, 23 Apr. 2024
Fans think the venom-spiked lyrics target former boyfriend Harry Styles.
—Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY, 14 Apr. 2024
Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 6 Mar. 2024
The fed up snide of the lyric contrasts with the danger-defying romance Doja Cat presented across Scarlet.
—Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 29 Mar. 2024
Beyoncé also published lyric videos on her YouTube channel.
—Angel Saunders, Peoplemag, 29 Mar. 2024
His soaring tenor is singularly beautiful, and everyone who hears him is touched by the lyric quality of his singing.
—Heide Janssen, Orange County Register, 17 Mar. 2024
One afternoon last month, at a recording studio in Montclair, New Jersey, Tony Visconti, the record producer, sat in a control room turning a lyric sheet into a paper cone.
—Nick Paumgarten, The New Yorker, 8 Jan. 2024
Using ideas lifted from his lyric journals, Reznor imagined a new mind in which to pour all his deepest fears, doubts, and resentments.
—Adam Steiner, SPIN, 8 Mar. 2024
Pankaj Udhas, a singer from India whose soulful renditions of ghazals, or lyric love songs, were a cornerstone of many Bollywood films over his decades-long career, died in Mumbai on Monday.
—John Yoon, New York Times, 27 Feb. 2024
The Buenos Aires show also marked the first time Kelce met Swift's dad, Scott, and the first time Swift performed the lyric change.
—Ingrid Vasquez, Peoplemag, 24 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'lyric.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near lyric
Cite this Entry
“Lyric.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lyric. Accessed 3 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
lyric
1 of 2 noun
lyric
2 of 2 adjective
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