Standard Lemma guide

polysyllable

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A word with more than two syllables. Sometimes used in a more restricted sense.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a word of more than three syllables

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: polysyllabic word

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: word

Narrower terms: jawbreaker, sesquipedalian, sesquipedalia

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *pleh1- Proto-Indo-European *polh1ús Ancient Greek πολῠ́ς (polŭ́s)lbor. English poly- English syllable English polysyllable From poly- + syllable.

Across languages

Translations

5 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Galician: polisílaba — a word with more than two syllables
  • Greek: πολυσύλλαβη λέξη (polysýllavi léxi) — a word with more than two syllables
  • Italian: polisillabo — a word with more than two syllables
  • Manx: yl-heeley — a word with more than two syllables
  • Turkish: çok heceli — a word with more than two syllables