poet laureate
noun
plural poets laureate or poet laureates
1
: a poet honored for achievement
2
a
: a poet appointed for life by an English sovereign as a member of the royal household and formerly expected to compose poems for court and national occasions
b
: a poet appointed annually by the U.S. Library of Congress as a consultant and typically involved in the promotion of poetry
3
: one regarded by a country or region as its most eminent or representative poet
Examples of poet laureate in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Today, the Academy of American Poets announced the recipients of their 2025 Laureate Fellowships, which award $50,000 each to 23 poets laureate currently serving in cities and states across the country.
—
Literary Hub
july 31, 2025, Literary Hub, 31 July 2025
In addition to La Lulu and Making Movies, the Main Stage lineup includes The Salvation Choir, Beau Bledsoe and Kansas City poet laureate Melissa Ferrer Civil.
—Dan Kelly
july 25, Kansas City Star, 25 July 2025
But, during the course of both filming the doc about the beloved genderqueer poet laureate Andrea Gibson and its robust festival rollout (following its Sundance debut in January), the filmmaker was delighted by the weird ways life itself unfolded.
—Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 15 July 2025
Colorado's poet laureate, Andrea Gibson, died at home on Monday from ovarian cancer.
—Brittney Melton, NPR, 16 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for poet laureate
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.
Literary Hub
july 31, 2025, Literary Hub, 31 July 2025
In addition to La Lulu and Making Movies, the Main Stage lineup includes The Salvation Choir, Beau Bledsoe and Kansas City poet laureate Melissa Ferrer Civil.
—Dan Kelly
july 25, Kansas City Star, 25 July 2025
But, during the course of both filming the doc about the beloved genderqueer poet laureate Andrea Gibson and its robust festival rollout (following its Sundance debut in January), the filmmaker was delighted by the weird ways life itself unfolded.
—Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 15 July 2025
Colorado's poet laureate, Andrea Gibson, died at home on Monday from ovarian cancer.
—Brittney Melton, NPR, 16 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for poet laureate
Video
Is It 'Attorney Generals' Or 'Attorneys General'?
'Poets laureate'? 'Court-martials'? The curious history of postpositive adjectives in English.
Cite this Entry
“Poet laureate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/poet%20laureate. Accessed 12 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share