Word.ws English Dictionary

poet laureates

poet laureates is the plural of poet laureate.

Meaning of poet laureate

Noun

poet laureate (plural poets laureate or poet laureates)

  1. A poet officially appointed by a government, often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events.
    • "Can you imagine, Louis, an Archbishop of Canterbury, or a Poet Laureate, or a Chancellor of the Exchequer being friendly—perhaps even dining—with the editor of The Times?"
      "Certainly; why not?"1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC
  2. (obsolete) One who received an honorable degree in grammar, including poetry and rhetoric, at the English universities; so called as being presented with a wreath of laurel.
  3. (UK, historical) An officer of the king's household, whose business was to compose an ode annually for the king's birthday, and other suitable occasions; now, a poet officially distinguished by such honorary title, the office being a sinecure.

Questions about poet laureates

What is poet laureates the plural of?
Poet laureates is the plural of poet laureate.

Words near poet laureates in the dictionary

  1. poesying
  2. poet
  3. poet blouse
  4. poet blouses
  5. poet laureate
  6. poet laureates
  7. poet shirt
  8. poet shirts
  9. poet sleeve
  10. poet sleeves
  11. poet's daffodil

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: poet laureates (page history and authors); poet laureate (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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