adj
lyric
LIH-rihk
adj
1
Relating to poetry that expresses personal thoughts and feelings, often in a musical, song-like style.
"Keats is celebrated for his lyric poetry exploring beauty and mortality."
noun
1
The words of a song.
"She wrote the lyric for the chorus in under ten minutes."
How to Use Lyric
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishDescribes personal, emotional poetry, or refers to the words of a song.
Common mistake
In everyday use, "lyrics" (plural) is far more common than the singular "lyric" for song words; "lyric" alone is more often used as an adjective or in poetry contexts.
Easily confused with
Word Forms
more lyric comparative, lyrics plural, most lyric superlative
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Keats is celebrated for his _____ poetry exploring beauty and mortality.
Etymology
From Latin lyricus, from Greek lurikos, "of the lyre" — originally describing poetry meant to be sung to lyre accompaniment.