Meanings
plural poetasters
- An unskilled poet.
Where the personal feelings were not engaged, it was also an agreeable pastime to follow his destructive feats; see him annihilate a poetaster, or insinuate away the pretensions of a book-wright.
1853, Henry Theodore Tuckerman, “Mental Portraits; Or, Studies of Character”, in The Reviewer: Lord Jeffrey, page 2191 more example
Innumerable poetasters of the early eighteenth century enjoyed fame in their day and some possessed talent; but the obscure and trivial style of the age from which they could not free themselves deprived them of any chance of enduring fame.
1913, Elijah Clarence Hills, S. Griswold Morley, editors, Modern Spanish Lyrics
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- New Latinpoētaster
- Englishpoetaster
Learned borrowing from New Latin poētaster. By surface analysis, poet + -aster.
More words from New Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic شُوَيْعِر, مُتَشَاعِر
- شُوَيْعِر (šuwayʕir)unskilled poet
- مُتَشَاعِر (mutašāʕir)unskilled poet
Bulgarian стихоплетец
- стихоплетец (stihopletec)unskilled poet
Catalan poetastre
- poetastreunskilled poet
Esperanto poetaĉo
- poetaĉounskilled poet
French poétastre, rimailleur
- poétastreunskilled poet
- rimailleurunskilled poet
German Poetaster
- Poetasterunskilled poet
Hungarian fűzfapoéta, poetaszter
- fűzfapoétaunskilled poet
- poetaszterunskilled poet
Italian poetastro
- poetastrounskilled poet
Polish wierszokleta, wierszopis
- wierszokletaunskilled poet
- wierszopisunskilled poet
- wierszoróbunskilled poet
Portuguese poetastro, poetaço
- poetastrounskilled poet
- poetaçounskilled poet
Romanian poetastru, poetaș
- poetastruunskilled poet
- poetașunskilled poet
- poetardunskilled poet
Scottish Gaelic bàrdan
- bàrdanunskilled poet
Spanish poetastro, poetucho
- poetastrounskilled poet
- poetuchounskilled poet
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with poetaster
Cite this entry
poetaster. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/poetaster
“poetaster.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/poetaster. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “poetaster,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/poetaster.
Source: poetaster on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.