Poetic Terms Dictionary
Technique

Double Entendre

From French: double meaning. A feature of wit poetry, Restoration comedy, and much popular verse. Related to the rhetorical figure antanaclasis.

Definition

A word or phrase that carries two interpretations, one typically straightforward and one risqué or subversive.

Example

Shakespeare exploits Elizabethan slang throughout his plays and sonnets for sustained double meanings.

Related Terms