polysynthetic
/ˌpɒlisɪnˈθɛtɪk/adjective
polysynthetic is spelled P-O-L-Y-S-Y-N-T-H-E-T-I-C: 13 letters. It appears about once in every 39 million words in written English, the 191,932nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, polysynthetic means “Characterized by a prevalence of relatively long words containing a large number of morphemes. Typically, the morphemes are bound” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in polysynthetic?
| Letters | 13: P-O-L-Y-S-Y-N-T-H-E-T-I-C |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 39 million words; the 191,932nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is polysynthetic?
Polysynthetic appears about once in every 39 million words in written English, the 191,932nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce polysynthetic?
- /ˌpɒlisɪnˈθɛtɪk/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Neøn-polysynthetic.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of polysynthetic
- more polysynthetic comparative
- most polysynthetic superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does polysynthetic mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Characterized by a prevalence of relatively long words containing a large number of morphemes. Typically, the morphemes are bound.
- 2
Having layers of twin crystals
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Polysynthetic in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense polysynthetic:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | polysynthétique |
| German | polysynthetisch |
| Portuguese | polissintético |
| Spanish | polisintético |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does polysynthetic come from?
From poly- + synthetic.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).