Dictionary
Thesaurus
Medical
Scrabble®
Spanish Central
Browse DictionaryBrowse Thesaurus
Get our free apps!iPhone•iPad•Android
Games
Word of the Day
Video
Blog: Words at Play
My Faves
Dictionary

free verse

noun

: poetry that does not rhyme and does not have a regular rhythm

Full Definition of FREE VERSE

:  verse whose meter is irregular in some respect or whose rhythm is not metrical
See free verse defined for English-language learners
See free verse defined for kids
ADVERTISEMENT

First Known Use of FREE VERSE

1908

Other Literature Terms

apophasis, bathos, bildungsroman, bowdlerize, caesura, coda, doggerel, euphemism, poesy, prosody

Rhymes with FREE VERSE

adverse, amerce, asperse, averse, coerce, commerce, converse, cutpurse, disburse, disperse, diverse, dry nurse, immerse, inverse, Nez Percé, obverse, perverse, rehearse, reverse, scrub nurse, sesterce, submerse, transverse, traverse, wet nurse

Learn More About FREE VERSE

Browse

Next Word in the Dictionary: free vibrationPrevious Word in the Dictionary: free variationAll Words Near: free verse
ADVERTISEMENT
10 Charming Words for Nasty People
Put-downs with flair
Learn More
When "Literally" isn't, well, literal
How to use a word that (literally) drives some people nuts.
Watch Now
Know what this is?
Test your vocab with our fun, fast game
Go Play
Fear of cats?
Ailurophobia, and 9 other unusual fears
Learn More
Join Us
Merriam-Webster
on Facebook
Merriam-Webster
on Twitter
Bookstore: Digital and Print
Merriam-Webster references for Mobile, Kindle, print, and more.
See All
Other Merriam-Webster Dictionaries