Expressing feeling through language or movement with musical flow and imaginative beauty.
Reach for it when praising prose, poetry, dance, or description for expressive cadence
Her lyrical account made the winter marsh vivid without romanticizing hardship.
| playful | |
|---|---|
| everyday | |
| warm | |
| professional | |
| literary |
playful
songlike
Fits when plain comparison to a song is useful
Careful Songlike can sound simplistic in serious criticism.
everyday
Fits when rhythm and sound please the ear
Careful Musical can describe literal ability and lacks poetic imagery.
warm
Fits when easy continuous movement or phrasing is the point
Careful Flowing does not guarantee emotional depth.
professional
Fits when emotion or meaning is communicated clearly
Careful Expressive covers blunt delivery too, while lyrical points to musical beauty.
professional
Fits when a pleasing sequence of musical tones is the specific quality
Careful Melodic suits sound and does not describe imagery well.
literary
Fits when imaginative language and condensed feeling are central
Careful Poetic can be visually striking without musical flow.
literary
rhapsodic
Fits when intense enthusiastic praise pours out freely
Careful Rhapsodic is more ecstatic and can lack control.
lyrical prose
The essay's lyrical prose followed the river from spring to sea.
lyrical style
A lyrical style gave the documentary narration unusual warmth.
lyrical passage
One lyrical passage described cranes gathering at dusk.
Definitions and examples are written for this site. How words are chosen Recording: Vealhurl, Southern England accent, from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 Updated
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