Lyrical
adj.joyful, thoughtfulliterary
What it means
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.
Choose between these
7- playful
songlike
plain comparison to a song is useful
not when Songlike can sound simplistic in serious criticism.
- everyday
rhythm and sound please the ear
not when Musical can describe literal ability and lacks poetic imagery.
- warm
easy continuous movement or phrasing is the point
not when Flowing does not guarantee emotional depth.
- professional
emotion or meaning is communicated clearly
not when Expressive covers blunt delivery too, while lyrical points to musical beauty.
- professional
a pleasing sequence of musical tones is the specific quality
not when Melodic suits sound and does not describe imagery well.
- literary
imaginative language and condensed feeling are central
not when Poetic can be visually striking without musical flow.
- literary
rhapsodic
intense enthusiastic praise pours out freely
not when Rhapsodic is more ecstatic and can lack control.
Said against
3- prosaic
- clunky
- unmusical
It naturally appears in
3- 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.
The word family
1Where this comes from
- merriam-webster, adjective sense 1 opens in a new tab · retrieved 2026-07-26
The definition and the example on this page are written here. The dictionaries above ground which meaning is being described, not the wording.