syl·lab·ic
sə-ˈla-bik 
1
: constituting a syllable or the nucleus of a syllable:
a
: not accompanied in the same syllable by a vowel
a syllabic consonant
b
: having vowel quality more prominent than that of another vowel in the syllable
the first vowel of a falling diphthong, as \ȯ\ in \ȯi\, is syllabic
2
: of, relating to, or denoting syllables
syllabic accent
3
: characterized by distinct enunciation or separation of syllables
4
: of, relating to, or constituting a type of verse distinguished primarily by count of syllables rather than by rhythmical arrangement of accents or quantities
: a syllabic character or sound
Examples of syllabic in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Longreads, 1 July 2025
While human communication relies on syllabic sound units, bird talk is more varied.
—The New Yorker, 4 Nov. 2024
Still an inexperienced group player, André does show an inborn knack for instrumental conversation and picks his spots well, running short phrases while toying with syllabic inflections and extending runs without obstructing other players.
—Jonathan Rowe, SPIN, 7 Dec. 2023
What a listener hears are syllabic cries and whispers, as well as groans and shrieks, enhanced with further discordance from a varying set of instruments.
—Michael Dirda, Washington Post, 31 Aug. 2023
Making sense of his experience, for Auden, involved synthesizing in his art the disparate and divided, using formal principles, metric or syllabic or stanzaic.
—Nick Laird, The New York Review of Books, 16 Mar. 2023
The program can also handle complex, multi-syllabic words with ease, and can be instructed to add stress to words or syllables to alter the interpretation of sentences.
—Nathaniel Scharping, Discover Magazine, 8 Jan. 2018
The Americas, in turn, received the wheel, the horse, sugar, wheat, livestock, a syllabic script and, of course, rice.
—New York Times, 11 Nov. 2021
Germany’s nearly four-month-long lockdown has entailed no restrictions on the language’s propensity for multi-syllabic, often tongue-twisting words.
—Washington Post, 1 Mar. 2021
Jordan Michael Smith, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 Feb. 2024
Most phones and keyboards need extra software to handle syllabics, so young Inuit text and email mainly in English, says Crystal Martin-Lapenskie of the National Inuit Youth Council.
—The Economist, 3 Oct. 2019
Three use syllabics—characters to represent syllables—rather than the roman alphabet.
—The Economist, 3 Oct. 2019
Thug is also a master of the art of taking mono-syllabic exclamations and turning them into nonverbal rhythmic signatures.
—John Adamian, courant.com, 4 Oct. 2019
Elders who grew up with syllabics fretted that the shift to roman letters would erase part of their culture.
—The Economist, 3 Oct. 2019
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Adjective
Cuneiform became syllabic, repurposing its logograms, or word symbols, as sounds.
—Longreads, 1 July 2025
While human communication relies on syllabic sound units, bird talk is more varied.
—The New Yorker, 4 Nov. 2024
Still an inexperienced group player, André does show an inborn knack for instrumental conversation and picks his spots well, running short phrases while toying with syllabic inflections and extending runs without obstructing other players.
—Jonathan Rowe, SPIN, 7 Dec. 2023
What a listener hears are syllabic cries and whispers, as well as groans and shrieks, enhanced with further discordance from a varying set of instruments.
—Michael Dirda, Washington Post, 31 Aug. 2023
Making sense of his experience, for Auden, involved synthesizing in his art the disparate and divided, using formal principles, metric or syllabic or stanzaic.
—Nick Laird, The New York Review of Books, 16 Mar. 2023
The program can also handle complex, multi-syllabic words with ease, and can be instructed to add stress to words or syllables to alter the interpretation of sentences.
—Nathaniel Scharping, Discover Magazine, 8 Jan. 2018
The Americas, in turn, received the wheel, the horse, sugar, wheat, livestock, a syllabic script and, of course, rice.
—New York Times, 11 Nov. 2021
Germany’s nearly four-month-long lockdown has entailed no restrictions on the language’s propensity for multi-syllabic, often tongue-twisting words.
—Washington Post, 1 Mar. 2021
Noun
For one thing, Morrisseau almost always signed works with his shaman’s name, Copper Thunderbird, in Cree syllabics on the front—never illegibly on the back of the painting, never in English and certainly never with a copyright symbol.
—Jordan Michael Smith, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 Feb. 2024
Most phones and keyboards need extra software to handle syllabics, so young Inuit text and email mainly in English, says Crystal Martin-Lapenskie of the National Inuit Youth Council.
—The Economist, 3 Oct. 2019
Three use syllabics—characters to represent syllables—rather than the roman alphabet.
—The Economist, 3 Oct. 2019
Thug is also a master of the art of taking mono-syllabic exclamations and turning them into nonverbal rhythmic signatures.
—John Adamian, courant.com, 4 Oct. 2019
Elders who grew up with syllabics fretted that the shift to roman letters would erase part of their culture.
—The Economist, 3 Oct. 2019
Cite this Entry
“Syllabic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/syllabic. Accessed 11 Jul. 2025.
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