Dictionary.com

syncopation

[ sing-kuh-pey-shuhn, sin- ]
/ ˌsɪŋ kəˈpeɪ ʃən, ˌsɪn- /

noun

Music. a shifting of the normal accent, usually by stressing the normally unaccented beats.
something, as a rhythm or a passage of music, that is syncopated.
Also called counterpoint, counterpoint rhythm. Prosody. the use of rhetorical stress at variance with the metrical stress of a line of verse, as the stress on and and of in Come praise Colonus' horses and come praise/The wine-dark of the wood's intricacies.
Grammar. syncope.

QUIZZES

CAN YOU GUESS THESE WORDS FROM AROUND THE US?

American English is not always as it appears to be ... get to know regional words in this quiz!
Question 1 of 10
A bet is synonymous with a wager, but what does it mean in New York?
Often it means something is impossible.
It’s another way to agree with someone.
It serves as an apology.
TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of syncopation

1525–35; <Medieval Latin syncopātiōn- (stem of syncopātiō), equivalent to Late Latin syncopāt(us) (see syncopate) + -iōn--ion

OTHER WORDS FROM syncopation

non·syn·co·pa·tion, noun

Words nearby syncopation

synclonus, Syncom, syncopal, syncopate, syncopated, syncopation, syncope, syncopic, syncretic, syncretism, syncretize
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for syncopation

British Dictionary definitions for syncopation

syncopation
/ (ˌsɪŋkəˈpeɪʃən) /

noun

music
  1. the displacement of the usual rhythmic accent away from a strong beat onto a weak beat
  2. a note, beat, rhythm, etc, produced by syncopation
another word for syncope (def. 2)
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