poet laureate

noun

plural poets laureate or poet laureates

1

: a poet honored for achievement

2

a

: a poet appointed for life by an English sovereign as a member of the royal household and formerly expected to compose poems for court and national occasions

b

: a poet appointed annually by the U.S. Library of Congress as a consultant and typically involved in the promotion of poetry

3

: one regarded by a country or region as its most eminent or representative poet

Examples of poet laureate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

America’s poet laureate, the incandescent Ada Limón, was asked to write a poem that would be inscribed on the spacecraft. —Lorraine Berry, Los Angeles Times, 25 Nov. 2024

Wilkinson is former poet laureate from Kentucky and a member of the Affrilachian Poets collective who has helped shift perceptions of Appalachian culture and rural Black America. —Betty Hallock, Los Angeles Times, 1 Dec. 2024

The backstory: The Austin poet laureate program was established through the efforts of local poet KB Brookins. —Asher Price, Axios, 3 Oct. 2024

During their one-to-four-year tenure, each poet laureate in recent history has developed a project to bring the literary form to those who might not otherwise encounter it. —Abigail Barronian, Outside Online, 30 July 2024

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

poet laureate

noun

plural poets laureate or poet laureates

1

: a poet appointed by an English ruler as a member of the royal household and formerly expected to write poems for court and national occasions

2

: a poet regarded by a country or region as its most outstanding