# prose

/ˈpɹoʊz/ (US) · /pɹˈəʊz/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/prose
Updated: 2026-06-20

## Senses

### 1. ordinary writing

noun · CEFR C1 · Academic

written or spoken language in its ordinary form, without the rhyming or rhythm of a poem.

For teachers: language in its ordinary form, lacking the metrical structure or rhythmic constraints of verse.

- The author is famous for her clear and simple prose.
- While his poetry was often dense and difficult to follow, his prose was remarkably lucid and accessible to the general public.

Usage: Usually uncountable and used without an article.

### 2. dull language

noun · CEFR C2 · Literary · Formal

language or talk that is boring and lacks imagination.

For teachers: discourse that is dull, commonplace, or lacking in creative animation.

- The speech was full of the usual political prose and offered no new ideas.
- The report was written in such dry, bureaucratic prose that it was nearly impossible to stay focused while reading it.

### 3. to write dully

verb · CEFR C2 · Archaic · Literary

to write or talk in a very boring and long-winded way.

For teachers: to write or speak in a tedious, unimaginative, or prosy manner.

- He would prose on for hours about his childhood memories.
- The professor tended to prose about minor historical details, losing the interest of his students within the first ten minutes of the lecture.

## Examples

- The author writes beautiful prose that is easy to read.
- While the play contains several songs, the majority of the dialogue is written in naturalistic prose.
- The novelist was celebrated for her lean, muscular prose, which avoided the flowery ornamentation common in nineteenth-century literature.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.