poetic
po·et·ic/poʊˈɛtɪk/adjective
poetic is an adjective meaning “Relating to poetry” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled P-O-E-T-I-C and has 3 syllables (po·et·ic), and it appears 4.9 times per million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data).
What does poetic mean?
adjective
- 1
Relating to poetry.
Iambics are one form of poetic meter.
- 2
Characteristic of poets; romantic, imaginative, etc.
- 3
Connecting to the soul of the beholder.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce poetic?
- UK /pəʊˈɛtɪk/
- US /poʊˈɛtɪk/
- Australia /poʊˈetɪk/
Poetic has 3 syllables, split po·et·ic in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-poetic.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of poetic
- more poetic comparative
- most poetic superlative
- poëtic
- poetical
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is poetic?
Poetic appears 4.9 times per million words in written English, the 11,373rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Poetic in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense relating to poetry:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | poétique |
| German | dichterisch, poetisch |
| Portuguese | poético |
| Spanish | poético |
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 poetic come from?
From Middle French poetique, from Latin poeticus, from Ancient Greek ποιητικός (poiētikós) from ποιέω (poiéō, “make”). Displaced native Old English sċoplīċ and lēoþlīċ. Doublet of poietic.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).