Epigram
noun
A short, clever saying or poem, often funny or satirical.
The comedian's routine was filled with brilliant epigrams that kept the audience laughing.
Often appears as...
- witty epigram
- satirical epigram
Usage tips
Literary
noun
A short inscription, especially on a building or statue.
The bronze statue had an inspiring epigram etched at its base.
Often appears as...
- monument epigram
- poignant epigram
noun
A short, clever saying or poem, often funny or satirical.
The comedian's routine was filled with brilliant epigrams that kept the audience laughing.
Often appears as...
- witty epigram
- satirical epigram
Usage tips
Literary
noun
A short inscription, especially on a building or statue.
The bronze statue had an inspiring epigram etched at its base.
Often appears as...
- monument epigram
- poignant epigram
Definition 1 of 2
Pro Tip 1/3Brief Sharpness
An epigram is concise, delivering a sharp point or joke in few words.
Life’s too short to drink bad wine. - Classic epigram
Pro Tip 2/3Satirical Tone
Epigrams often have a humorous or ironic twist, critiquing a social norm or behavior.
Absent in body, but present in spirit. - A satirical epigram
Pro Tip 3/3Cultural References
Familiarity with the culture or context enhances appreciation of an epigram's wit or sarcasm.
To err is human; to forgive, divine. - An epigram playing on cultural sayings
Pro Tip 1/3Brief Sharpness
An epigram is concise, delivering a sharp point or joke in few words.
Life’s too short to drink bad wine. - Classic epigram
Pro Tip 2/3Satirical Tone
Epigrams often have a humorous or ironic twist, critiquing a social norm or behavior.
Absent in body, but present in spirit. - A satirical epigram
Pro Tip 3/3Cultural References
Familiarity with the culture or context enhances appreciation of an epigram's wit or sarcasm.
To err is human; to forgive, divine. - An epigram playing on cultural sayings
Pro Tip 1/3Brief Sharpness
An epigram is concise, delivering a sharp point or joke in few words.
Life’s too short to drink bad wine. - Classic epigram
Pro Tip 2/3Satirical Tone
Epigrams often have a humorous or ironic twist, critiquing a social norm or behavior.
Absent in body, but present in spirit. - A satirical epigram
Pro Tip 3/3Cultural References
Familiarity with the culture or context enhances appreciation of an epigram's wit or sarcasm.
To err is human; to forgive, divine. - An epigram playing on cultural sayings
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Video examples
Africa’s rhyming history...
history's just interesting that's all and indeed it is none more so than the longest human history of all the history of Africa that you've just heard so eloquently described still we're drawn to these these epigrams these simple statements about what it
Video examples
Why does the universe...
"It is not how things are in the world that is the mystical, it's that the world exists." And if you don't like taking your epigrams from a philosopher, try a scientist. John Archibald Wheeler, one of the great physicists of the 20th century,
Video examples
Africa’s rhyming history...
history's just interesting that's all and indeed it is none more so than the longest human history of all the history of Africa that you've just heard so eloquently described still we're drawn to these these epigrams these simple statements about what it
Video examples
Why does the universe...
"It is not how things are in the world that is the mystical, it's that the world exists." And if you don't like taking your epigrams from a philosopher, try a scientist. John Archibald Wheeler, one of the great physicists of the 20th century,
Example 1 of 2
Quote examples
Wallace Shawn
American Actor
Interestingly, the actress who, in her own persona, may be gentle, shy, and socially awkward, someone whose hand trembles when pouring a cup of tea for a visiting friend, can convincingly portray an elegant, cruel aristocrat tossing off malicious epigrams in an eighteenth-century chocolate house.
Quote examples
Nicolas Chamfort
French Writer
Most of those who make collections of verse or epigram are like men eating cherries or oysters: they choose out the best at first, and end by eating all.
Quote examples
F. H. Bradley
British Philosopher
Our live experiences, fixed in aphorisms, stiffen into cold epigrams. Our heart's blood, as we write it, turns to mere dull ink.
Quote examples
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
American Writer
Audiences are always better pleased with a smart retort, some joke or epigram, than with any amount of reasoning.
Quote examples
William Cowper
English Poet
An epigram is but a feeble thing - With straw in tail, stuck there by way of sting.
Quote examples
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
English Poet
What is a epigram? A dwarfish whole. Its body brevity, and wit its soul.
Quote examples
W. Somerset Maugham
British Playwright
Anyone can tell the truth, but only very few of us can make epigrams.
Quote examples
Delmore Schwartz
American Poet
All literature is an effort at the formal character of the epigram.
Quote examples
Karl Kraus
Austrian Writer
Feminine passion is to masculine as an epic is to an epigram.
Quote examples
Hendrik Willem Van Loon
American Journalist
Somewhere in the world there is an epigram for every dilemma.
Quote examples
Wallace Shawn
American Actor
Interestingly, the actress who, in her own persona, may be gentle, shy, and socially awkward, someone whose hand trembles when pouring a cup of tea for a visiting friend, can convincingly portray an elegant, cruel aristocrat tossing off malicious epigrams in an eighteenth-century chocolate house.
Quote examples
Nicolas Chamfort
French Writer
Most of those who make collections of verse or epigram are like men eating cherries or oysters: they choose out the best at first, and end by eating all.
Quote examples
F. H. Bradley
British Philosopher
Our live experiences, fixed in aphorisms, stiffen into cold epigrams. Our heart's blood, as we write it, turns to mere dull ink.
Quote examples
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
American Writer
Audiences are always better pleased with a smart retort, some joke or epigram, than with any amount of reasoning.
Quote examples
William Cowper
English Poet
An epigram is but a feeble thing - With straw in tail, stuck there by way of sting.
Quote examples
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
English Poet
What is a epigram? A dwarfish whole. Its body brevity, and wit its soul.
Quote examples
W. Somerset Maugham
British Playwright
Anyone can tell the truth, but only very few of us can make epigrams.
Quote examples
Delmore Schwartz
American Poet
All literature is an effort at the formal character of the epigram.
Quote examples
Karl Kraus
Austrian Writer
Feminine passion is to masculine as an epic is to an epigram.
Quote examples
Hendrik Willem Van Loon
American Journalist
Somewhere in the world there is an epigram for every dilemma.
Example 1 of 10
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