Standard Lemma guide

doggerel

adj · noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈdɒɡəɹəl/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: D AA1 G ER0 AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of a crude or irregular construction.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Topics: communications, journalism, literature, media, poetry, publishing, writing

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A comic or humorous verse, usually irregular in measure.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: communications, journalism, literature, media, poetry, publishing, writing

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Any writing of crude composition.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly, countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

a comic verse of irregular measure

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he had heard some silly doggerel that kept running through his mind

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: doggerel verse, jingle

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: verse, rhyme

History

Etymology

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

Across languages

Translations

27 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Dutch: kreupelrijm — of a crude or irregular construction
  • Hungarian: kötetlen — of a crude or irregular construction
  • Hungarian: szabálytalan — of a crude or irregular construction
  • Hungarian: formátlan — of a crude or irregular construction
  • Icelandic: illa kveðinn — of a crude or irregular construction
  • Icelandic: stirðkveðinn — of a crude or irregular construction
  • Italian: versaiolo — of a crude or irregular construction
  • Polish: wiersz częstochowski — of a crude or irregular construction
  • Polish: wiersz kalwaryjski — of a crude or irregular construction
  • Chinese Mandarin: 打油詩 /打油诗 (dǎyóushī) — comic or humorous verse
  • Dutch: ulevellenrijm — comic or humorous verse
  • French: vers de mirliton — comic or humorous verse
  • German: Knittelvers — comic or humorous verse
  • Hungarian: fűzfavers — comic or humorous verse
  • Hungarian: kontár vers — comic or humorous verse
  • Hungarian: klapancia — comic or humorous verse
  • Hungarian: fűzfarím — comic or humorous verse
  • Hungarian: zöngemény — comic or humorous verse
  • Icelandic: hnoð — comic or humorous verse
  • Icelandic: leirburður — comic or humorous verse
  • Icelandic: leirrensli — comic or humorous verse
  • Icelandic: lélegur kveðskapur — comic or humorous verse
  • Icelandic: lélegur skáldskapur — comic or humorous verse
  • Icelandic: vondur kveðskapur — comic or humorous verse
  • Italian: rimeria — comic or humorous verse
  • Tagalog: tulakis — comic or humorous verse
  • Volapük: lupoedot — comic or humorous verse