syntactic
Americanadjective
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of or relating to syntax.
syntactic errors in English;
the syntactic rules for computer source code.
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consisting of or noting morphemes that are combined in the same order as they would be if they were separate words in a corresponding construction.
The word blackberry, which consists of an adjective followed by a noun, is a syntactic compound.
adjective
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Also: synˈtactical. relating to or determined by syntax
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logic linguistics describable wholly with respect to the grammatical structure of an expression or the rules of well-formedness of a formal system
Other Word Forms
- nonsyntactic adjective
- nonsyntactical adjective
- nonsyntactically adverb
- syntactically adverb
- unsyntactic adjective
- unsyntactical adjective
- unsyntactically adverb
Etymology
Origin of syntactic
1570–80; < New Latin syntacticus < Greek syntaktikós, equivalent to syntakt ( ós ) ordered, arranged together, verbid of syntássein to arrange together ( syn- syn- + tag-, base of tássein to arrange + -tos adj. suffix) + -ikos -ic; see tactic
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.
As oxymorons go, it’s the operatic equivalent to Noam Chomsky’s famous syntactic puzzle “Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.”
From New York Times • May 16, 2024
He tested ChatGPT and, although the result “was perfectly written, from a syntactic, orthographic point of view,” it lacked poetry.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 12, 2024
We talked about all sorts of things, and he loved it when I enthused about a simile or some syntactic tour de force.
From Washington Post • Feb. 23, 2023
“I’m a linguist, so I think everyone’s an egghead like me and wants to look at syntactic constructions,” he says.
From The Verge • Jun. 7, 2022
It’s a syntactic version of the curse of knowledge.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
