syncretic

American  

[sin-kret-ik] / sɪnˈkrɛt ɪk /

Also syncretistic rarely syncretical

adjective

1. combining or bringing together different philosophical, religious, or cultural principles and practices.

   The Afro-Brazilian religion is syncretic, mingling the pantheon, practices, and beliefs brought to South America by enslaved Yorubans with the Catholicism of colonial European culture.

   Exceptional syncretic murals can be found at the site, the work of Indigenous artists who struggled with and adapted unfamiliar European subject matter after the Spanish Conquest.

2. Grammar. relating to or describing the merging of two or more inflectional categories into one.

   When word forms in a paradigm are syncretic, they can result in grammatical ambiguity because one form can have multiple functions.

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Etymology

Origin of syncretic

syncret(ism) ( def. ) + -ic

Example Sentences

The ritual is syncretic -- blending Mayan and Catholic traditions.

From Barron's • Oct. 22, 2025

“Home Counties,” from 2017, included “Whyteleafe,” a syncretic gem of harpsichord-fueled baroque, electro bass lines and vocals that both cherish and recreate the delights of vintage British pop.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 16, 2025

As Portuguese Catholic colonists brought African slaves to Brazil, the enslaved men and women developed syncretic blends of their traditional religions with Catholicism, now practiced by a small minority of Brazilians.

From Seattle Times • May 15, 2024

In this syncretic version of Islam, ancestor veneration continued, for example, as did the use of magical rituals to drive away spirits believed to cause illness.

From Textbooks • Dec. 14, 2022

This was a new form of Christianity--a syncretic faith into which entered a little of Zoroastrianism, somewhat of Judaism, a modicum of Buddhism, and some Christianity.

From Oriental Women by Pollard, Edward Bagby