epigram

[ ep-i-gram ]
See synonyms for epigram on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. any witty, ingenious, or pointed saying tersely expressed.

  2. epigrammatic expression: Oscar Wilde had a genius for epigram.

  1. a short, often satirical poem dealing concisely with a single subject and usually ending with a witty or ingenious turn of thought.

Origin of epigram

1
1400–50; late Middle English <Latin epigramma<Greek epígramma inscription, epigram. See epi-, -gram1

Other words for epigram

Words that may be confused with epigram

Words Nearby epigram

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use epigram in a sentence

  • One should delight in truth; I do delight in epigram; there seems little chance for choice here.

    Mrs. Falchion, Complete | Gilbert Parker
  • Then he smiled grimly, thinking of Voltaire's cruel epigram—that "letters addressed to posterity seldom reach their destination!"

    Love's Pilgrimage | Upton Sinclair

British Dictionary definitions for epigram

epigram

/ (ˈɛpɪˌɡræm) /


noun
  1. a witty, often paradoxical remark, concisely expressed

  2. a short, pungent, and often satirical poem, esp one having a witty and ingenious ending

Origin of epigram

1
C15: from Latin epigramma, from Greek: inscription, from epigraphein to write upon, from graphein to write

Derived forms of epigram

  • epigrammatic, adjective
  • epigrammatically, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for epigram

epigram

Any pithy, witty saying or short poem. An aphorism can serve as an epigram, if it is brief.

Notes for epigram

Several authors are noted for their epigrams, including Mark Twain and Oscar Wilde. One of Wilde's epigrams is “I can resist everything except temptation.”

Notes for epigram

Two other words are similar: an epigraph is usually an inscription, as on a statue; an epitaph can be such an inscription or it can be a brief literary note commemorating a dead person.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.