polyphonic
Americanadjective
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consisting of many voices or sounds.
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Music.
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having two or more voices or parts, each with an independent melody, but all harmonizing; contrapuntal (opposed to homophonic).
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pertaining to music of this kind.
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capable of producing more than one tone at a time, as an organ or a harp.
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Phonetics. having more than one phonetic value, as the letter s, that is voiced (z) in nose and unvoiced (s) in salt.
adjective
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music composed of relatively independent melodic lines or parts; contrapuntal
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many-voiced
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phonetics of, relating to, or denoting a polyphone
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of polyphonic
Vocabulary lists containing polyphonic
Music - Middle School
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Music - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The film moves between the two in a sweeping, polyphonic narrative blending performances by professional and amateur actors, portraying a multifaceted Franco-African community refreshingly free from stereotypes.
From Barron's • Feb. 16, 2026
Aside from being a hit, it was artistically groundbreaking: The music was daringly polyphonic.
From Salon • Aug. 9, 2025
The walls of the shelter, like those of the Gothic cathedral before it, reverberated with polyphonic music from a world beyond pain: not sacred, not quite, but certainly exalted.
From New York Times • Mar. 21, 2023
She worked on “The Rabbit Hutch” for around five years, finding a new and deeper connection to her material — a polyphonic portrait of low-income housing residents in Indiana.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 14, 2022
She turned the cassette player on, nodding to the polyphonic beat of drums.
From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
