Doggerel

English

Adjective

Doggerel (not comparable)

1. (poetry) Of a crude or irregular construction. (Originally applied to humorous verse, but now to verse lacking artistry or meaning.)
   • 1678, John Dryden, "Prologue to Limberham," lines 1-4,

     True wit has seen its best days long ago;

     It ne'er look'd up, since we were dipp'd in show:

     When sense in doggerel rhymes and clouds was lost,

     And dulness flourish'd at the actors' cost.

2. (poetry) a comic or humorous verse, usually irregular in measure

Noun

Doggerel (plural Doggerels)

1. A doggerel poem or verse.
   • 1895, Stephen Crane,The Red Badge of Courage, ch. 8,

     As he marched he sang a bit of doggerel in a high and quavering voice:

     "Sing a song 'a vic'try,

     A pocketful 'a bullets,

     Five an' twenty dead men

     Baked in a—pie."

Thesaurus

Doric, Hudibrastic verse, amphigory, barbaric, barbarous, burlesque, cacophonous, caricatural, clumsy, coarse, crambo, crambo clink, crude, dysphemistic, farcical, graceless, gross, halting meters, harsh, improper, impure, in bad taste, inconcinnate, inconcinnous, incorrect, indecorous, inelegant, infelicitous, lame verses, limping meters, low, macaronic, macaronic verse, macaronics, nonsense verse, outlandish, parodic, rude, satiric, tasteless, uncourtly, uncouth, undignified, uneuphonious, unfelicitous, ungraceful, unpolished, unrefined, unseemly, vulgar

Alternative forms

• doggrel

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈdɒɡərəl/

Translations

Adjective

of a crude or irregular construction

Icelandic: illa kveðinn (is) m., stirðkveðinn (is) m.

comic or humorous verse

Icelandic: (of humorous style and irregular construction) kímilegur í stíl og óreglulegur að formi til (is)

Noun

doggerel poem or verse

Icelandic: leirburður (is) m., hnoð (is) n., leirrensli (is) n., lélegur kveðskapur (is) m., lélegur skáldskapur (is) m., vondur kveðskapur (is) m.

References

• “Doggerel” in An American Dictionary of the English Language, by Noah Webster, 1828.
• doggerel in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• "doggerel" in Encarta® World English Dictionary [North American Edition] © & (P)2007 Microsoft Corporation.
• "doggerel" in Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary © Cambridge University Press 2007.
• "doggerel" in Compact Oxford English Dictionary, © Oxford University Press, 2007.
• Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.
• Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary, 1987-1996.