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Showing results for polysyllable. Search instead for polysyllables.

polysyllable

American  
[pol-ee-sil-uh-buhl, pol-ee-sil-] / ˈpɒl iˌsɪl ə bəl, ˌpɒl iˈsɪl- /

noun

  1. a polysyllabic word.


polysyllable British  
/ ˈpɒlɪˌsɪləbəl /

noun

  1. a word consisting of more than two syllables

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of polysyllable

First recorded in 1560–70; poly- + syllable


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.

See Examples For:

Australians on the whole realize that multiculturalism, that forbiddingly bureaucratic polysyllable responsible for so much hot air, really means learning to read other people's image banks, not a forced renunciation of one's own.

From Time Magazine Archive

He never chooses a monosyllable when a polysyllable will do.

From Time Magazine Archive

She can still make something unmailable out of the twitch of a feather or a polysyllable.

From Time Magazine Archive

The formidable polysyllable simply means, "Hatchets rattling inside the baskets of the carpenters."

From Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago And Long Before by George Turner

Mr. Punch, once hailed by the D.T. as "the Democritus of Fleet Street," on the strength of his "memorable monosyllabic monition," in turn salutes the immortal protagonist of the purple polysyllable.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 158, 1920-03-20 by Various

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