whitmanize

Etymology

From Whitman + -ize.

whitmanize means to employ the characteristic writing style of the American poet Walt Whitman (1819–1892). Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 90 out of 100.

Why this word is great

WHITMANIZE — [Verb] To write in or adopt the expansive, free-verse style characteristic of the American poet Walt Whitman. From the proper name Whitman (referring to Walt Whitman) + the English verbal suffix -ize (meaning "to make, to cause to be, or to treat in the manner of"). Unlike "versify" (which implies constructing lines within the cage of meter and rhyme) or "classicize" (which seeks the chiseled, marmoreal ideals of antiquity), to whitmanize is to break all metrical contracts in favor of an inclusive, enumerative, and bodily cadence. It is the catalogs of stevedores and blacksmiths, the scent of lilacs by a graveside, and the press of a stranger's shoulder in a crowd—a radical act of faith that the unadorned self, in all its contradictions, is worthy of an epic.

verb

To employ the characteristic writing style of the American poet Walt Whitman (1819–1892).