Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Derogatory A woman who is a writer of poems.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A woman who is a poet.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A female poet.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun dated  a female poet 
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a woman poet
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Support
 
				Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word poetess.
Examples
- 
								His poetess is inspired by the Polish Roma poetess Papusza; 1910-1987. The Roma Poetess 2007 
- 
								I know that you have no desire to celebrate war on the face of it, like Owen's "poetess" - nor do I begin to presume to know the challenges or "virtus" of military life and warfare. 
- 
								_carmen triumphale_ of the poetess is a worthy accompaniment. The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 10, No. 288, Supplementary Number Various 
- 
								always gives away a woman writer, also known as poetess. Poem Containing "So," "And," "Such" Beate Sigriddaughter 2011 
- 
								Poet Mary O'Donnell, for example, has suggested "poetess", "authoress", "hysterical" and "as a mother"; but to me, these are bugbear words and phrases rather than tripping-up ones – she's disturbed by the way they're used rather than confused by the act of reading them. 
- 
								There is a "poetess" in the wilds of nineteenth-century frontier Canada ( "Meneseteung"), a violinist in the 1940s who dreams of leaving her baby outside to die ( "My Mother's Dream"), and an aging piano teacher, Miss Marsalles, whose popularity is waning ( "Dance of the Happy Shades"): A Quiet Genius 2001 
- 
								There is a "poetess" in the wilds of nineteenth-century frontier Canada ( "Meneseteung"), a violinist in the 1940s who dreams of leaving her baby outside to die ( "My Mother's Dream"), and an aging piano teacher, Miss Marsalles, whose popularity is waning ( "Dance of the Happy Shades"): A Quiet Genius 2001 
- 
								There was a "poetess" named Jessie Pope who was, apparently, a kind of one woman recruiting force - she wrote verse singing the praises of war and urging young men to enlist. 
- 
								I loved that anthology, and, although an 11-year-old aspiring "poetess", I wasn't alarmed that women were more often the subjects than the authors (what's so bad about being a rarity?) but, yes, it was refreshing suddenly to be presented with this notion that the poet's desired woman might not exist at all; that she might be a figment of his imagination. 
- 
								Often Munro is historical and modern simultaneously, as in her depiction of the doctor who treats the nineteenth-century frontier "poetess": "He believes that her troubles would clear up if she got married. A Quiet Genius 2001 
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.