Standard Lemma guide

syncopation

noun · 5 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˌsɪŋ.kəˈpeɪ.ʃən/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: S IH1 NG K AH0 P EY2 SH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The contraction of a word by means of loss or omission of sounds or syllables in the middle thereof.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, phonology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The quality of a rhythm being somehow unexpected, in that it deviates from the strict succession of regularly spaced strong and weak beats in a meter.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

music (especially dance music) that has a syncopated rhythm

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: music

4

noun

Meaning 4

a musical rhythm accenting a normally weak beat

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: rhythm, beat, musical rhythm

5

noun

Meaning 5

(phonology) the loss of sounds from within a word (as in `fo'c'sle' for `forecastle')

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: syncope

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: articulation

History

Etymology

From syncopate + -ion. The phonological sense was first attested in English in the 1530's, the musical sense in the 1590's.

Across languages

Translations

19 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese: 切分 (qiēfēn) — rhythm quality
  • Chinese: 切分音 (qiēfēnyīn) — rhythm quality
  • Finnish: synkopaatio — rhythm quality
  • French: syncopation — rhythm quality
  • Greek: συγκοπή (sygkopí) — rhythm quality
  • Hungarian: szinkópa — rhythm quality
  • Japanese: シンコペーション (shinkopēshon) — rhythm quality
  • Māori: taki aruaru — rhythm quality
  • Portuguese: síncope — rhythm quality
  • Portuguese: sincopação — rhythm quality
  • Swedish: synkopering — rhythm quality
  • Swedish: synkop — rhythm quality
  • Chinese Mandarin: 字中音省略 (zìzhōngyīnshěnglüè) — phonology: loss of sounds
  • Finnish: synkopee — phonology: loss of sounds
  • Greek: συγκοπή (sygkopí) — phonology: loss of sounds
  • Hungarian: szinkópa — phonology: loss of sounds
  • Irish: meánchoimriú — phonology: loss of sounds
  • Latin: syncopātiō — phonology: loss of sounds
  • Swedish: synkope — phonology: loss of sounds