polysyllabic
Americanadjective
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consisting of several, especially four or more, syllables, as a word.
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characterized by such words, as a language, piece of writing, etc.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of polysyllabic
1650–60; < Medieval Latin polysyllab ( us ) of many syllables (< Greek polysýllabos ) + -ic. See poly-, syllabic
Explanation
Polysyllabic words have many syllables. The word librarian is polysyllabic, but the word book is not. You can use the polysyllabic word polysyllabic for a word with more than one syllable, but it generally refers to words with more than three, like hippopotamus and misunderstanding. Sometimes people also describe long speeches or books full of unnecessarily big words as polysyllabic: "I got very sleepy listening to his polysyllabic lecture on philosophy." The Greek roots of this word are poly-, "many," and syllabe, "a syllable."
Vocabulary lists containing polysyllabic
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.
“In written English, especially when it’s a name that ends in s and it’s a polysyllabic name, you could add the apostrophe s, if you are really a stickler for the rules,” she said.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 8, 2023
This included highly wrought confessional lyrics, long polysyllabic song titles, and the conjunction of hard, even thrash-derived sounds like a screamed chorus with much softer instrumental passages.
From Salon ● Dec. 19, 2022
The diminutive “Cali” is one of the most commonly used substitutions for the polysyllabic state name.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2022
It grabbed every polysyllabic word and ambient alliteration available and turned it up to 12.
From The Verge ● Nov. 13, 2018
So many words were still unknown that when the butcher or the lady at the drugstore said something to me, exotic polysyllabic sounds would bloom in the midst of their sentences.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
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.
