An acrostic is a poem or puzzle where the first letters of each line spell out a word or message when read from top to bottom.

You might write an acrostic poem about your best friend named MARIA:

Makes me laugh every day

Always shares her snacks

Reads the same books I do

Incredible at soccer

Actually listens when I talk

Teachers often assign acrostic poems because they give you a structure to work with. The hidden word acts like a skeleton, and you build your poem around it. Some acrostics are simple and straightforward, while others are clever and subtle, hiding their secret message so well that readers might not notice it at first.

Ancient Greek and Hebrew poets used acrostics thousands of years ago, sometimes spelling out entire alphabets or names. Beyond poems, acrostics appear in word puzzles where clues help you fill in answers, and the first letters of those answers spell something relevant to the puzzle's theme. They're a playful way to hide meaning in plain sight.