epigram means an inscription in stone.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, epigram ranks #2,309 of 14,431 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #2,340 of 14,361 for Most Ingenious Words, #2,382 of 14,414 for Most Elegant Words, #7,082 of 14,423 for Most Sublime Words.
epigram is pronounced /ˈɛpɪɡɹæm/.
Why “epigram” is a great word
A concise, clever, and often paradoxical or satirical saying or short poem. From the Ancient Greek ἐπίγραμμα (epígramma, "inscription"), from ἐπιγράφειν (epigraphein, "to write on, inscribe"), the word once referred to any words carved in stone before it sharpened into its current, keener sense. Unlike an "epigraph" (which denotes a physical inscription or a thematic quotation) or an "aphorism" (which offers a general, sober truth), the epigram lives for its pointed twist and barbed elegance. It is the glint of a blade in two lines, the sting that outlasts the slap, the final, fatal click of a rhetorical trap snapping shut—proof that the deepest cuts are delivered with the smallest blades.
Etymology
From Middle French epigramme, from Latin epigramma, from Ancient Greek ἐπίγραμμα (epígramma, “inscription”).
noun
- An inscription in stone.
- A brief but witty saying.
- A short, witty or pithy poem.“The second has written a sonnet
upon the mutability of woman,
And the third writes an epigram to Candidia.”
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.