From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpoet laureateˌpoet ˈlaureate noun (plural poets laureate) [countable] ALa poet who is chosen by a king, queen, president etc to write poems on important national occasions
Examples from the Corpus
poet laureate• Later he became poet laureate of the United States.• Morris wrote endlessly and was even offered the post of poet laureate.Poet LaureateˌPoet ˈLaureate, poet laureate noun [countable] a poet who is appointed by the king or queen in Britain to write poems on important occasions 