Word.ws English Dictionary

polysyllabism

polysyllabism noun: the state or characteristic of having or using words containing multiple syllables, sometimes as a stage in the development of language.

Noun

polysyllabism (usually uncountable, plural polysyllabisms)

  1. (usually) The state or characteristic of having or using words containing multiple syllables, sometimes as a stage in the development of language.
    • Chinese polysyllabism is a sort of synthesis, or aggregation, or 'addition' of morphemes and their meanings.1936, Martin Joos, "Book Review: The Psycho-Biology of Language by George K. Zipf," Language, vol. 12, no. 3 (July/Sep), p. 202
  2. (usually) Polysyllabicism.
    • Cumbrous compounds are formed as the names of objects and a character of tedious and time-wasting polysyllabism is given to the language.1867, William Dwight Whitney, Language and the Study of Language, New York: Scribner, page 348

Forms of polysyllabism

pluralpolysyllabisms

Questions about polysyllabism

What does polysyllabism mean?
Polysyllabism means the state or characteristic of having or using words containing multiple syllables, sometimes as a stage in the development of language.
What part of speech is polysyllabism?
Polysyllabism is a noun.
What is the plural of polysyllabism?
The plural of polysyllabism is polysyllabisms.

Words near polysyllabism in the dictionary

  1. polysyllabically
  2. polysyllabicism
  3. polysyllabicisms
  4. polysyllabicity
  5. polysyllabics
  6. polysyllabism
  7. polysyllabisms
  8. polysyllable
  9. polysyllables
  10. polysyllogism
  11. polysyllogisms

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: polysyllabism (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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