prose
prose Lexical Profile
prose Game Scores & Validity
• noun
Written or spoken language in its ordinary, continuous form, without the metrical structure or rhythmic line breaks characteristic of poetry.
"The novelist is celebrated for her clear, unadorned prose that captures the rhythms of everyday speech."
Dull, commonplace, or uninspiring talk, writing, or routine.
"After the excitement of the campaign trail, he struggled to adjust to the dull prose of daily administrative duties."
• verb
To talk or write in a tedious, dull, or overly lengthy manner.
"The speaker prosed on for nearly an hour about minor procedural rules while the audience grew restless."
To compose in prose, or to translate a poetic work into ordinary prose.
"In the nineteenth century, several scholars prosed the ancient epic so that general readers could follow the plot easily."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse the noun 'prose' (ordinary non-metrical language) with the plural noun 'pros' (as in 'pros and cons', meaning advantages).
• Rhymes for prose
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed via Old French from the Latin phrase 'prosa oratio' (straightforward or direct speech), derived from 'proversus', the past participle of 'provertere' (to turn forward).