lyric
/ˈlɪɹɪk/adjective, noun
lyric is an adjective meaning “Of, or relating to a type of poetry (such as a sonnet or ode) that expresses subjective thoughts and feelings, often in a songlike style” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled L-Y-R-I-C and has 2 syllables, and it appears 4.3 times per million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Lyric, the name).
What does lyric mean?
adjective
- 1
Of, or relating to a type of poetry (such as a sonnet or ode) that expresses subjective thoughts and feelings, often in a songlike style.
- 2
Of or relating to a writer of such poetry.
- 3
Lyrical.
- 4
Having a light singing voice of modest range.
- 5
Of or relating to musical drama and opera.
- 6
Melodious.
- 7
Of or relating to the lyre (or sometimes the harp).
noun
- 1
A lyric poem.
- 2
The words of a song or other vocal music.
The lyric in line 3 doesn't rhyme.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce lyric?
- US /ˈlɪɹɪk/
Lyric has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-lyric.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-lyric.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of lyric
- more lyric comparative
- most lyric superlative
- lyrics plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is lyric?
Lyric appears 4.3 times per million words in written English, the 12,397th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Lyric, the name.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Lyric in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense lyric poem:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | lyrisches Gedicht |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does lyric come from?
From French lyrique, or its source, Latin lyricus, from Ancient Greek λυρικός (lurikós), from λύρα (lúra, “lyre”). Its English equivalent would be lyre + -ic. The original Greek sense of "lyric poetry"–"poetry accompanied by the lyre" i.e. "words set to music"–eventually led to its use as "lyrics", first attested in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Stainer and Barrett used the word as a singular substantive: "Lyric, poetry or blank verse intended to be set to music and sung".
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).