free verse

[ free vurs ]

noun

, Prosody.

1. verse that does not follow a fixed metrical pattern.

free verse

noun

1. unrhymed verse without a metrical pattern

free verse

1. Verse without regular meter or rhyme . Leaves of Grass, by Walt Whitman , is written almost entirely in free verse.

Other Words From

• free-ver·si·fi·er [free, -, vur, -s, uh, -fahy-er], noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of free verse¹

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

It spans 22 panels, down which Cendrars’s free verse runs in 30 different typefaces.

From New York Times

Two six-minute compositions in the middle of “Ocean Blvd,” though, test the limits of Del Rey’s penchant for free verse.

From New York Times

But according to Anderson’s free verse, “We never made a ‘sex tape.’

From Los Angeles Times

Here is a bit more free verse too, popped in after another Playboy-shoot anecdote: “It was authentic / All happening on camera / In real time. / Hef called me / the DNA of Playboy.”

From Los Angeles Times

“Joe Pera Talks With You” was, though, a free verse Midwestern ode to tenderness and wonder.

From New York Times