Word.ws English Dictionary

adynaton

Syllables: ady·na·ton/ædɪˈnɑːtɒn/US/ædəˈnɑtn̩/

adynaton noun: a form of hyperbole that uses exaggeration so magnified as to express impossibility; an instance of such hyperbole.

Noun

adynaton (countable and uncountable, plural adynata or adynatons)

  1. (rhetoric) A form of hyperbole that uses exaggeration so magnified as to express impossibility; an instance of such hyperbole.
    • In this little book, Dr. Sharp attempts to revive and to explain a great number of hard words which were formerly employed by teachers of rhetoric: presenting chapters intituled after the figures, Acyrologia, Adynaton, Anadiplosis, [...][1820 October, “Art. 26. The Flowers of Rhetoric, the Graces of Eloquence, and the Charms of Oratory; Depicted by Men Celebrated for Their Taste, Genius, Diction, and Erudition. Assorted and...
    • In the realm of a very exclusive art adynata of this type and others are taken up again by Arnaut Daniel, the great and distant master of Dante [Alighieri].1953, Ernst Robert Curtius, “Topics”, in Willard R[opes] Trask, transl., European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages: Translated from the German (Bollingen Series; XXXVI), Princeton, N.J....

Examples of adynaton in a sentence

  • This is ironic after the elaborate adynatons.1971, David William Foster, The Marqués de Santillana (Twayne’s World Authors Series; 154), New York, N.Y.: Twayne Publishers, →OCLC:
  • This transcendence is very evident in adynatons which pervade Igbo folklore.1998, Damian U[gwutikiri] Opata, Essays on Igbo World View, Nsukka, Nigeria: AP Express Publishers, →ISBN, page 34:
  • [William] Shakespeare's use of adynaton is central to an understanding of [The Rape of] Lucrece.2007, Huw Griffiths, “Letter-writing Lucrece: Shakespeare in the 1590s”, in Jennifer Richards, Alison Thorne, editors, Rhetoric, Women and...

Forms of adynaton

pluraladynata
pluraladynatons

Origin of adynaton

Borrowed from Late Latin adynaton (“impossibility; adynaton”), or directly from its etymon Ancient Greek ἀδύνατον (adúnaton, “an impossibility; impracticality”), substantivized neuter singular of ἀδύνατος (adúnatos, “unable; that cannot be done, impossible”) + -ον (-on, suffix forming nouns). The word ἀδύνατος is derived from ἀ- (a-, the alpha privative, a prefix forming words having a sense opposite to the word or stem to which it is attached) + δῠνᾰτός (dŭnătós, “mighty, strong; possible, practical”) (from δῠ́νᾰμαι (dŭ́nămai, “to be able, capable; it can be, it is possible”) (from Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂- (“to fit”)) + -τος (-tos, suffix forming verbal adjectives of possibility)).

Questions about adynaton

What does adynaton mean?
Adynaton means a form of hyperbole that uses exaggeration so magnified as to express impossibility; an instance of such hyperbole.
How do you use adynaton in a sentence?
This is ironic after the elaborate adynatons.
What part of speech is adynaton?
Adynaton is a noun.
How do you pronounce adynaton?
Adynaton is pronounced /ædɪˈnɑːtɒn/ (UK).
What is the plural of adynaton?
The plural of adynaton is adynata.

Words near adynaton in the dictionary

  1. adynamia
  2. adynamias
  3. adynamic
  4. adynamy
  5. adynata
  6. adynaton
  7. adynatons
  8. adynerigenin
  9. adynerin
  10. adyponectin
  11. adysplasia

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: adynaton (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-adynaton.wav.

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