Word.ws English Dictionary

polysyndeton

/pɒlɪˈsɪndɪtɒn/

polysyndeton noun: the use of many conjunctions to achieve an overwhelming effect in a sentence.

Noun

polysyndeton (countable and uncountable, plural polysyndetons or polysyndeta)

  1. (rhetoric) The use of many conjunctions to achieve an overwhelming effect in a sentence.
    • In Polysyndeton conjunctions flow,
      And every word its copulative will shew.1835, L[arret] Langley, “[Rhetorical Figures.] Polysyndeton.”, in A Manual of the Figures of Rhetoric, […], Doncaster, South Yorkshire: […] C. White, […], →OCLC, page 53
    • [Hemingway] often employs a variety of polysyndeton—a frequent use of conjunctions, most notably “and”—linking elements in a sentence together in a way that implies all parts are of equal importance, while in fact one unit of the series may be much more significant than the others.2002, Robert Baird Shuman, editor, Great American Writers: Twentieth Century, Marshall Cavendish, →ISBN, page 668

polysyndeton meaning in Tagalog

polysyndeton in Tagalog

the use of many conjunctions to achieve an overwhelming effect in a sentence
damiugnay

Antonyms of polysyndeton

Forms of polysyndeton

pluralpolysyndetons
pluralpolysyndeta

Origin of polysyndeton

Borrowed from Medieval Latin polysyndeton, itself from Byzantine Greek πολυσύνδετον (polusúndeton, literally “many connected”).

Questions about polysyndeton

What does polysyndeton mean?
Polysyndeton means the use of many conjunctions to achieve an overwhelming effect in a sentence.
What is polysyndeton in Tagalog?
Polysyndeton in Tagalog is damiugnay. See Polysyndeton meaning in Tagalog.
What part of speech is polysyndeton?
Polysyndeton is a noun.
How do you pronounce polysyndeton?
Polysyndeton is pronounced /pɒlɪˈsɪndɪtɒn/.
What is the plural of polysyndeton?
The plural of polysyndeton is polysyndetons.

Words near polysyndeton in the dictionary

  1. polysyndactylism
  2. polysyndactyly
  3. polysyndeta
  4. polysyndetic
  5. polysyndetically
  6. polysyndeton
  7. polysyndetons
  8. polysyndromic
  9. polysynodies
  10. polysynody
  11. polysynovitis

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: polysyndeton (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.

Last updated:

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

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