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

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

Sharpen your pencils and whip out those rhymes — Austin is seeking a poet laureate. —Asher Price, Axios, 3 Oct. 2024

Previous winners of the Cave Canem Prize include Natasha Trethewey and Tracy K. Smith, who served as poet laureates of the United States in 2012-2014 and 2017-2019, respectively. —Elizabeth Lund, The Christian Science Monitor, 12 Sep. 2024

The Ford Foundation is funding the position, along with that of poet laureate Jessica Care Moore and the city's first official historian, Jamon Jordan. —Dana Afana, Detroit Free Press, 6 Sep. 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