haiku

noun

Definition of haikunext
as in tanka

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of haiku Today, this is the basis of the Japanese sense of the seasons, which has also had a great influence on literature in Japan, especially with regard to haiku, the 17-syllable Japanese poem that has attained international popularity. — Caleb Jacobs, The Drive, 9 Apr. 2026 Can a home furnishing-cabal haiku be far behind? — Pat Beall, Sun Sentinel, 13 Mar. 2026 Woodland features around 25,000 titles of poetry, small press literature, handmade works and the largest collection of haiku in North America. — Hannah Kirby, jsonline.com, 28 Jan. 2026 Whether from the literary rules of a haiku or the development of ferns, constraint can be a generator of form. — Jacob S. Suissa, The Conversation, 25 Nov. 2025 See All Example Sentences for haiku
Recent Examples of Synonyms for haiku
  1. tanka
  2. senryu
  3. sonnet
  4. poetry
  5. limerick
  6. epigram
  7. elegy
  8. psalm
Noun
  • Matsumoto worked with collaborators to translate the book of tanka poems so everyone in her family could read them.
    — Myrna Petlicki, Chicago Tribune, 16 Apr. 2026
  • Matsumoto said tanka is the oldest form of traditional Japanese poetry.
    — Myrna Petlicki, Chicago Tribune, 16 Apr. 2026
Definition of tanka
Noun
  • The construction is the same -- three lines, 17 syllables, with five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second line and five syllables on the third line -- but the tone and subject matter of a senryu is different.
    — Mary Colurso | [email protected], al, 19 Nov. 2020
  • The event is open to anyone interested in learning about the modern haiku, senryu and haibun types of poetry, focusing on contemporary free verse forms, not the familiar five-seven-five-syllable structure.
    — Carole Goldberg, courant.com, 7 Aug. 2019
Definition of senryu
Noun
  • People can and should be skeptical about the sonnets written about starting NFL quarterbacks every offseason, when no one is getting sacked and almost everyone looks good.
    — Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 30 July 2026
  • The conventions ground the writing as meter and rhyme steady a sonnet.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 13 July 2026
Definition of sonnet
Noun
  • Jeffrey, who had one daughter, wrote poetry and rap lyrics with a social conscience and was involved in jailhouse ministry while he was incarcerated.
    — Connor Sheets, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026
  • But when Batter gets a dream job at Peck & Peck, the most prestigious poetry quarterly in the world, his life moves into the literary fast lane.
    — Danielle Parker, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of poetry
Noun
  • The study picked 10 commercial large language models by top tech companies — including Meta, Anthropic and OpenAI — and asked the AI systems to make critical pamphlets, write limericks, give reasons if someone should join protests, and more.
    — Didi Tang, Fortune, 16 July 2026
  • He was also known for his haikus and limericks, including some written to summarize ethics.
    — Elliott Wenzler, Denver Post, 2 Apr. 2026
Definition of limerick
Noun
  • By greatly expanding the dimensions of his images, with their muted palettes, tight cropping, found symmetries, and laconic wit, had the maestro of the photographic epigram betrayed his subtractive aesthetic?
    — James Quandt, Artforum, 2 June 2026
  • Johnson is the author of the epigrams, but Boswell is very much the co-author.
    — David Frum, The Atlantic, 27 May 2026
Definition of epigram
Noun
  • Her works are playful and often ironic, relentlessly experimental and not only genre-bending but form-bending, including Nox (New Directions, 2010), a box containing an accordioned elegy to her estranged brother after his death.
    — Emily Temple, Literary Hub, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Their books are therefore, in some respects, elegies to a conception of reading and writing which seems to be nearing an end.
    — Louis Menand, New Yorker, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of elegy
Noun
  • During a recent morning visit, large groups of Jewish worshippers circumambulated the holy site under close police guard, singing psalms at full volume and openly praying.
    — Ilan Ben Zion, Christian Science Monitor, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Psalm 23 is numbered Psalm 22 in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate because of differences in how the psalms are divided and numbered.
    — Frannie Comstock, Encyclopedia Britannica, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of psalm

Browse Nearby Words

ha-has
haiku
hail
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Cite this Entry

“Haiku.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/haiku. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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