syncopate

American  

[sing-kuh-peyt, sin-] / ˈsɪŋ kəˌpeɪt, ˈsɪn- /

verb (used with object)

syncopated, syncopating

1. Music.

   1. to place (the accents) on beats that are normally unaccented.

   2. to treat (a passage, piece, etc.) in this way.

2. Grammar. to contract (a word) by omitting one or more sounds from the middle, as in reducing Gloucester to Gloster.

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syncopate British  

/ ˈsɪŋkəˌpeɪt /

verb

1. music to modify or treat (a beat, rhythm, note, etc) by syncopation

2. to shorten (a word) by omitting sounds or letters from the middle

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Other Word Forms

• syncopator noun

Etymology

Origin of syncopate

First recorded in 1600–10; Medieval Latin syncopātus (past participle of syncopāre “to shorten by syncope”); syncope, -ate ¹

Example Sentences

And the clattering syncopated loop that repeats through “Oblivion” is there mostly as a contrast to the wispy and diaphanous vocals, which are so thin and leavened with reverb that they threaten to float away.

From The Wall Street Journal

In court, Sheeran's team accepted that the two songs share a similar syncopated chord pattern.

From BBC

Glenn also performed an a capella version of “Deep River,” his syncopated low voice and skilled falsetto moving the entire room into snaps, whistles and screams.

From Los Angeles Times

Eva Slater’s 1954 “Galaxy” insets a syncopated network of painted forms within a wooden panel, merging optical motion with material stasis.

From Los Angeles Times

The staging, which can seem cluttered and breathless in the early going, traipses through these seedy locales with a theatrical swiftness that captures the milieu that bred the syncopated rhythm of the Jazz Age.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• abbreviate
• constrict
• cram
• restrict
• shorten
• shrink
• squeeze
• wrap