What does "acrostic" mean?
A poem or other text in which certain letters, often the first in each line, spell out a name or message.
Acrostic
/əˈkɹɒstɪk/ adj, noun
adj, noun ·Moderate ·College level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A poem or other text in which certain letters, often the first in each line, spell out a name or message.
- Grammar: acrostic is listed as adj, noun.
- Nearest alternatives: abuse of terms, acronym, acrostic game, acrostic mnemonic.
- Useful contrasts: non mnemonic device, nonacrostic, nonacrostic puzzle.
- Usage evidence: Tom composed an acrostic spelling out THOMAS.
How to use "acrostic"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "acrostic" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "acrostic" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "acrostic" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "acrostic" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "acrostic" is acting as adj, noun in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "abuse of terms" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "acrostic", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A poem or other text in which certain letters, often the first in each line, spell out a name or message. also, attributive
"He [Judas Maccabeus] was termed Mackabæus, becauſe he carried in his ſtandard, or vexillum militare, theſe four Hebrew letters, Mem, Chaph, Beth, and Jod, or M. C. B. and J. whereunto their points being added, which are their vowells, (for others they have none) his mott was Mackabai, whereof he took his name. Theſe four letters are the acroſtickes or initiall letters of theſe four wordes in the fifteenth chapter of the book of Exodus, Mi Chamocha Baalim Jehovah, which is in Latin Quis ſicut tu Deorum Jehova? ["Who among the gods is like you, O Adonai?", Exodus 15:11.]"
- 2 verse in which certain letters such as the first in each line form a word or message wordnet
- 3 A poem in Hebrew in which successive lines or verses start with consecutive letters of the alphabet. also, attributive
"The Whole [of the Book of Zephaniah] is wrote in a very lively, tender, and pathetic Stile; and all the Chapters, except the laſt, (which ſeems to have been of later Compoſition than the reſt) are in Acroſtick Verſe, i.e. every Line, or Couplet, begins, in an Alphabetical Order, with ſome Letter in the Hebrew Alphabet."
- 4 a puzzle where you fill a square grid with words reading the same down as across wordnet
- 5 A kind of word puzzle, whose solution forms an anagram of a quotation, with its initial letters often forming the name of the person quoted. also, attributive
"those who rack their brains in solving the Acrostics in our Sunday papers will, perchance, be saved many a rack and many a failure by our reverse alphabetical arrangement"
Adjective
- 1 Of or pertaining to acrostics. also, attributive
"Other ancients have suggested that the original verses were written in hieroglyphs and also mentioned the acrostic code."
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"Tom composed an acrostic spelling out THOMAS."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "acrostic"?
Common synonyms include: abuse of terms, acronym, acrostic game, acrostic mnemonic, acrostic poem, acrostic puzzle.
How do you use "acrostic" in a sentence?
Tom composed an acrostic spelling out THOMAS.
How do you pronounce "acrostic"?
Pronounced /əˈkɹɒstɪk/.
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French acrostiche, acrostique (“acrostic”) (modern French acrostiche), and its etymon Late Latin acrostichis, from Ancient Greek ἀκροστιχίς (akrostikhís), from ἄκρο- (ákro-, prefix indicating, among other things, the extremity or tip of something) + στῐ́χος (stĭ́khos, “row or file of soldiers; line of poetry, verse”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steygʰ- (“to climb, go”)).