What does "doggerel" mean?

A comic or humorous verse, usually irregular in measure.

What is a synonym for "doggerel"?

Common synonyms include: amphigory, barbaric, barbarous, burlesque, cacophonous, caricatural.

adj, noun

adj, noun ·3 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
A comic or humorous verse, usually irregular in measure. countable, uncountable
"Taffy drew a long breath into his manly bosom, and kept it there as he read this characteristic French doggerel (for so he chose to call this touching little symphony in ère and ra)."
2
a comic verse of irregular measure wordnet
3
Any writing of crude composition. broadly, countable, uncountable
"It is very rare to find good, personal analysis of events that does not degenerate into chest-beating, pettiness, pomposity, or political doggeral ^([sic])."

Adjective

1
Of a crude or irregular construction. not-comparable
"True Wit has ſeen its best days long ago, / It ne're look'd up, ſince we were dipt in Show: / When Senſe in Dogrel Rimes and Clouds was loſt, / And Dulneſs flouriſh'd at the Actors coſt."

"It's just doggerel, not fine poetry."

Probably from dog + -rel (“pejorative suffix”), akin to Dog Latin, late 14th c.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.