sedoka · noun — A particular kind of Japanese poem, composed of two sets of 5-7-7 syllables. It carries an Arena rating of 1341, earned across 5 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, sedoka ranks #1,243 of 17,135 for Most Beautiful Words, #1,528 of 17,157 for Most Exacting Words, #4,762 of 17,152 for Most Whimsical Words, #6,382 of 17,135 for Most Elegant Words.
Why “sedoka” is a great word
A traditional Japanese poetic form consisting of two stanzas, each following a 5-7-7 syllable pattern. Borrowed from Japanese sedōka, from sedō ("turning head, repetition") and ka ("song, poem"). Unlike the monolithic tanka, a five-line crystallization of a single moment, or the narrative chōka, an epic scroll of alternating measures, the sedōka is a call and its echo. It is the formal shape of a question left hanging in the first 5-7-7 and an answer murmured back in the second; it is a thought doubling itself upon still water; it is the turning of a listener's head to catch a reply—a quiet architecture for the turning over of a solitary mind, where every utterance longs for an echo.
❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources
Etymology
Borrowed from Japanese 旋頭歌.
noun
- A particular kind of Japanese poem, composed of two sets of 5-7-7 syllables.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- katauta 61% match — A particular kind of Japanese poem, having a 5-7-7 meter and forming half of an exchange of two poems. vs sedoka →
- choka 60% match — A Japanese poem, a form of waka that consists of 5 to 7 on phrases repeated at least twice, and concludes with a 5-7-7 ending. vs sedoka →
- dodoitsu 58% match — A specific form of Japanese poem without rhyme, having lines of 7-7-7-5 morae. vs sedoka →
- senryū 56% match — A haiku-like poem of up to 17 syllables that is usually humorous or satirical. vs sedoka →
- hokku 55% match — Synonym of haiku (“type of Japanese poem”). vs sedoka →
- sijo 54% match — A classical Korean poetry form consisting of twelve accentual phrases divided in three lines. vs sedoka →
- doha 53% match — A form of self-contained rhyming couplet in Hindi poetry. vs sedoka →
- dodecasyllable 52% match — A word consisting of twelve syllables. vs sedoka →