clerihew

[ kler-uh-hyoo ]

noun

, Prosody.

1. a light verse form, usually consisting of two couplets, with lines of uneven length and irregular meter, the first line usually containing the name of a well-known person.

clerihew

/ ˈklɛrɪˌhjuː /

noun

1. a form of comic or satiric verse, consisting of two couplets of metrically irregular lines, containing the name of a well-known person

Word History and Origins

Origin of clerihew¹

1925–30; named after E. Clerihew Bentley (1875–1956), English writer, its inventor

Word History and Origins

Origin of clerihew¹

C20: named after Edmund Clerihew Bentley , who invented it

Example Sentences

Clerihew Hefner: The man known as Hef For modest living got an F But the bunnies in his clutch At least got a solid gold hutch.

From Washington Post

NOTE: A clerihew is a four-line poetic format invented in 1905 by Edmund Clerihew Bentley, who wrote humorous rhymes about all manner of persons, making frivolous fun of their names.

From Scientific American

Edmund Clerihew Bentley Created a form of verse that has never mocked gently.

From Washington Post

A clerihew contest was suggested by both David Smith and Michael Greene.

From Washington Post

I might drink and leave the world unseen …The lines prompted Bentley's clerihew: "John Keats/Among other notable feats/Drank off a soup-tureen/Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene."

From The Guardian