Word.ws English Dictionary

paralexical

Syllables: para·lex·i·cal/pæɹəˈlɛksɪkəl/

paralexical adjective: pertaining to, or communicated through, paralexicon (parallel vocabulary, e.g. ritual or secret cant, formal jargon).

Adjective

paralexical (not comparable)

  1. Pertaining to, or communicated through, paralexicon (parallel vocabulary, e.g. ritual or secret cant, formal jargon)
  2. Pertaining to elements of speech beside the lexicon and grammar. Prosodic, paralinguistic.
    • Aural communication includes spoken words and paralexical sounds (groans, screams, whimpers); sound effects (wind, a car starting up and driving away); and music.
    • The actual reading of the text itself is accompanied by certain common paralexical and extratextual features. The paralexical features are the intonational contours and stress patterns given the oral reading.

Origin of paralexical

* para- + lexical * paralexicon + -al

Words formed from paralexical

  • paralexically

Questions about paralexical

What does paralexical mean?
Paralexical means pertaining to, or communicated through, paralexicon (parallel vocabulary, e.g. ritual or secret cant, formal jargon).
What part of speech is paralexical?
Paralexical is an adjective.
How do you pronounce paralexical?
Paralexical is pronounced /pæɹəˈlɛksɪkəl/.

Words near paralexical in the dictionary

  1. paralepsis
  2. paraletic
  3. paralexia
  4. paralexias
  5. paralexic
  6. paralexical
  7. paralexicon
  8. paralgesia
  9. paralgesic
  10. paralian
  11. paralians

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: paralexical (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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Cite this entry: “paralexical.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/paralexical. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.