Definition

1. Proper noun:
   • A 20th-century American poet: Edward Estlin Cummings, known professionally as e. e. cummings, was an American poet, painter, and playwright. He is noted for his radical experimentation with form, punctuation, spelling, and syntax in his poetry.

Examples of Usage

• Proper noun:
  • The poetry of e. e. cummings often challenges conventional grammar and typography.
  • We studied the poem "anyone lived in a pretty how town" by e. e. cummings in my literature class.
  • His distinctive style makes e. e. cummings one of the most recognizable modern poets.

Advanced Usage

• The name is conventionally written in lowercase as e. e. cummings, reflecting the poet's own stylistic preference, though it is also commonly found capitalized as E. E. Cummings.
• The name e. e. cummings is often used attributively to describe a style of writing that breaks typographical and grammatical norms.
  • The writer employed a cummings-esque use of spacing and parentheses in her work.

Variants and Related Words

• Cummings, Edward Estlin: The poet's full birth name.
• cummings-esque (adj.): Resembling or characteristic of the unconventional poetic style of e. e. cummings.

Synonyms

• Poet
• Writer
• Author

Related Idioms or Phrases

• While there are no direct idioms, the name e. e. cummings itself is frequently invoked in discussions about avant-garde poetry, experimental typography, and modernist literature.

Noun

1. United States writer noted for his typographically eccentric poetry (1894-1962)