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View synonyms for syntactic

syntactic

Also syn·tacti·cal

[sin-tak-tik]

adjective

  1. of or relating to syntax.

    syntactic errors in English;

    the syntactic rules for computer source code.

  2. consisting of or noting morphemes that are combined in the same order as they would be if they were separate words in a corresponding construction.

    The word blackberry, which consists of an adjective followed by a noun, is a syntactic compound.



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Other Word Forms

  • syntactically adverb
  • nonsyntactic adjective
  • nonsyntactical adjective
  • nonsyntactically adverb
  • unsyntactic adjective
  • unsyntactical adjective
  • unsyntactically adverb
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Word History and Origins

Origin of syntactic1

1570–80; < New Latin syntacticus < Greek syntaktikós, equivalent to syntakt ( ós ) ordered, arranged together, verbid of syntássein to arrange together ( syn- syn- + tag-, base of tássein to arrange + -tos adj. suffix) + -ikos -ic; tactic
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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.

As oxymorons go, it’s the operatic equivalent to Noam Chomsky’s famous syntactic puzzle “Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.”

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The lyrics, written by the still-anonymous Ghostwriter, are sophomoric, and the delivery inorganic, with paint-by-numbers metaphors and misogyny that veers away from the syntactic detail that gives both artists’ songs their uniquely incisive texture.

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We talked about all sorts of things, and he loved it when I enthused about a simile or some syntactic tour de force.

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And they agree that complex, conditional, coherent, syntactic, if-this-then-that language, with a plan B and a plan C, would have required a big brain.

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There is a deep hunger that Sondheim satisfies, for intelligence and syntactic rigor in a form that in lesser hands comes across as pat and lazy.

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synsepaloussynˈtactic