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Showing results for polysyllable. Search instead for solfa syllable.

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:

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

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

The meaning of the formidable-looking polysyllable, which Egyptian lips found easier than 'Joseph,' is uncertain.

From Expositions of Holy Scripture by Maclaren, Alexander

She sometimes even glanced approvingly at her disciple's flying fingers when she uttered a polysyllable of more than usual distinction.

From 'Lizbeth of the Dale by MacGregor, Mary Esther Miller

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