syncopation

American  

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

noun

1. Music. a shifting of the normal accent, usually by stressing the normally unaccented beats.

2. something, as a rhythm or a passage of music, that is syncopated. syncopated.

3. Also called counterpoint rhythm.  Also called counterpoint.  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.

4. Grammar. syncope.

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syncopation British  

/ ˌsɪŋkəˈpeɪʃən /

noun

1. 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

2. another word for syncope

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Other Word Forms

• nonsyncopation noun

Etymology

Origin of syncopation

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

Example Sentences

“The thing is, we're just not sure how she thinks about or understands things like meter, syncopation or anything like that.”

From Salon

The production is crystal clear, with rumbling bass, percolating syncopation and lovely acoustic guitars in the bridge.

From Los Angeles Times

“Training Season,” her demand for a partner who already knows “how to love me right,” has tickling guitar syncopations and girl-group harmonies popping out of nowhere.

From New York Times

It includes “On Lamp,” an undulating, not-quite-ambient piece that threads a wandering, slow-motion melody through a stereo dialogue of acoustic guitars and subdued tom-tom syncopations, like a glimpse of a distant caravan.

From New York Times

And then there is the rush created by Wainaina’s language, which moves to its own syncopation.

From New York Times