as in to shorten
to make less in extent or duration
she tried to syncopate her gasp of shock
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Recent Examples of syncopate
The lyrics are funeral; the beat is heavily syncopated, recalling the pitch and roll of a great ship in heavy water.
—
Ken Fireman, Detroit Free Press, 2 May 2023
There’s a lot that’s syncopated but very little that’s wild in either of his operas.
—Zachary Woolfe, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2023
Her approach isn’t lacking for lyrical ferocity, but there are moments where her words are as melded to the melody as a body floating in the ocean, the undulating current syncopated to a slow, steady flow of air into lungs.
—Vulture, 14 Feb. 2023
Parks coos the melodies over low-slung hip-hop beats and guitars that can tangle like indie-rock or syncopate like funk.
—Star Tribune, 4 Feb. 2021
Not many, but enough to start infecting celebrations with doubt, to break up the exact time, the exact place, to syncopate something that used to be whole.
—Sam Knight, The New Yorker, 2 Nov. 2019
Clangorous yet syncopated, spliced with rock, hip-hop, and urban sound effects, the music matched the franticness of the modern world.
—Kenneth Partridge, Billboard, 18 Sep. 2019
Every rambling anecdote has been dropped, every hand gesture has been syncopated with the rhetoric and every laugh line has been blessed with the right emphasis.
—Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 11 June 2019
But anders has his own spin on the genre, with a knack for syncopating his super-smooth phrasing that gives his sound something unidentifiably catchy and idiosyncratic.
—Raisa Bruner, Time, 9 Mar. 2018
Ken Fireman, Detroit Free Press, 2 May 2023
There’s a lot that’s syncopated but very little that’s wild in either of his operas.
—Zachary Woolfe, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2023
Her approach isn’t lacking for lyrical ferocity, but there are moments where her words are as melded to the melody as a body floating in the ocean, the undulating current syncopated to a slow, steady flow of air into lungs.
—Vulture, 14 Feb. 2023
Parks coos the melodies over low-slung hip-hop beats and guitars that can tangle like indie-rock or syncopate like funk.
—Star Tribune, 4 Feb. 2021
Not many, but enough to start infecting celebrations with doubt, to break up the exact time, the exact place, to syncopate something that used to be whole.
—Sam Knight, The New Yorker, 2 Nov. 2019
Clangorous yet syncopated, spliced with rock, hip-hop, and urban sound effects, the music matched the franticness of the modern world.
—Kenneth Partridge, Billboard, 18 Sep. 2019
Every rambling anecdote has been dropped, every hand gesture has been syncopated with the rhetoric and every laugh line has been blessed with the right emphasis.
—Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 11 June 2019
But anders has his own spin on the genre, with a knack for syncopating his super-smooth phrasing that gives his sound something unidentifiably catchy and idiosyncratic.
—Raisa Bruner, Time, 9 Mar. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for syncopate
shorten
Verb
-
Drake, a frequent collaborator, has so far scored 135 placements between Nos. 1 and 10 on the tally, which previously featured more than 10 spaces, but which was shortened several years ago.—
Hugh McIntyre,
Forbes.com,
19 June 2025
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Boelter is a married father of five but often stayed at Carlson’s home in North Minneapolis to shorten his commute from Green Isle, Minn., to work.—
Jim Mustian,
Mercury News,
18 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Syncopate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/syncopate. Accessed 4 Jul. 2025.
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