What does acrostic mean?
An acrostic is a poem or piece of writing in which particular letters—most often the first letter of each line—combine, when read in order, to spell out a word, name, or hidden message. The form has ancient roots: several biblical Psalms are built as acrostics on the Hebrew alphabet, and poets from antiquity through the Renaissance used the device to embed dedications, names, and devotional messages within their verses. Today the word is most familiar in classrooms, where students write simple acrostics as a creative exercise, and among puzzle enthusiasts, for whom an acrostic is a distinctive quotation puzzle solved through interlocking clues. The term functions as both a noun and a modifier, as in 'acrostic poem.' Its enduring appeal lies in the playful tension between surface text and concealed meaning, making it one of literature's oldest forms of wordplay.
A poem or other composition in which certain letters, usually the first of each line, spell out a word or phrase when read in sequence.
"She wrote an acrostic in which the initial letters of the lines spelled her daughter's name."
Also used attributively, as in 'acrostic poem' or 'acrostic verse'.
A type of word puzzle in which answers to clues yield letters that, arranged in order, reveal a hidden quotation or keyword.
"He finished the newspaper's acrostic over his morning coffee."
Standard regular plural; used when referring to multiple compositions or puzzles of this kind.
"The anthology includes several Latin acrostics from the medieval period."
Several Psalms in the Hebrew Bible are acrostics, with each verse beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of acrostic
Acrostic derives from the Greek 'akrostikhis', formed from 'akros' meaning 'at the outermost' or 'end' and 'stikhos' meaning 'line' or 'verse'—literally 'at the end of the verse,' referring to the letters at the edges of lines. The Greek term passed into Latin before entering English in the early seventeenth century. The element 'akros' also appears in related English borrowings such as 'acronym' and 'acropolis', while 'stikhos' survives in the rarer word 'hemistich'.
Related word forms
How acrostic is actually used
Acrostic is used both as a noun for the composition itself and as a modifier (an acrostic poem). It is a neutral, literary term common in education and poetry contexts, and it also appears in the world of puzzles, where 'acrostic' refers to a specific quotation-based puzzle format popularized in American newspapers.
Easily confused with acrostic
An acronym is a word formed from the initial letters of a phrase (such as NASA), while an acrostic is a composition whose lines begin with letters that spell out a word or message.