lyrical

adjective

lyr·​i·​cal ˈlir-i-kəl 

1

: having an artistically beautiful or expressive quality suggestive of song

a lyrical film

a lyrical account of New York City in the late 1960s

… a book by the Japanese artist Rinko Kawauchi, who makes lyrical pictures of nature and domestic life.

—Chris Wiley

2

: of or relating to song lyrics

The album was praised for raw lyrical content about the transformative power of heartbreak …

—Nola Ojomu

He [Clarence Clemons] crams his short sequence with notes, as though mimicking the Boss' word-heavy lyrical style, his sax embodying the promise of escape and freedom more than anything else in the song.

—Stephen M. Deusner

lyrically

ˈlir-i-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

Lyrically, the title track sums up the carpe diem theme the band hopes listeners get out of this album …

—Margaret Coble

The book opens with an interview given to Hugo Vansitart by Eleanor Darcy … in which she, defining love, waffles lyrically and at length about love's effects rather than its nature.

—Shena Mackay

lyricalness

ˈlir-i-kəl-nəs 

noun

[Cellist Lynn] Harrell's ease of technique had a lot to do with it, and an elusive quality predominated—sometimes impish, but more often dark—as energetic bursts gave way to dreamy lyricalness.

—Therese Sutherland

Did you know?

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 mid-late 1500s, it too referred to things pertaining or adapted to the lyre. It initially described poets, emotionally expressive poetic forms (such as elegies, odes, or sonnets), or works meant to be sung. Two lexical developments came soon after: lyric gained noun use as a term for a lyric composition or poem, and lyrical was adopted as an alternate adjective form. Lyrical is now the more common adjective; it’s used broadly to describe writing or other creative works that have an artistically beautiful or expressive quality. Meanwhile, in modern use lyric is most familiar in its plural noun form—a song's lyrics are its words. In other uses lyric is a technical term limited mostly to poetry (a lyric poet writes lyric poems, i.e., poems that express direct emotion) and opera (many opera companies use the word in their names, and a lyric soprano has a light voice and melodic style).

Synonyms

• euphonious
• lyric
• mellifluent
• mellifluous
• mellow
• melodic
• melodious
• musical

Examples of lyrical in a Sentence

She is noted for her lyrical moviemaking style.

a painter known for his lyrical landscapes

a lyrical account of frontier life

Recent Examples on the Web

Incredible lyrical content, incredible guitar and keyboard work by the other guys just all around great album. —Liza Lentini, SPIN, 27 Dec. 2024

The British rapper’s latest single was released on Dec. 5 and has gone viral for its raunchy lyrical content, with some of the top-performing TikTok uploads being reaction videos alongside lip-synch clips. —Kevin Rutherford, Billboard, 26 Dec. 2024

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez: A masterpiece that exposes readers to lyrical prose and emotional depth. —Harrison Monarth, Forbes, 25 Dec. 2024

This lyrical but unsentimental book is a eulogy for transhumance—the seasonal movement of livestock and the people who watch over them. —The New Yorker, 23 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1528, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing lyrical

• wax lyrical

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Kids Definition

lyrical

adjective

lyr·​i·​cal ˈlir-i-kəl 

: lyric entry 2

lyrically

-i-k(ə-)lē 

adverb