syncopation
/ˌsɪŋ.kəˈpeɪ.ʃən/
"syncopation" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“syncopation” is uncommon English (frequency #88,907 among 54,294 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #88,907
- frequency rank, English
- 54,294
- “S” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The contraction of a word by means of loss or omission of sounds or syllables in the middle thereof.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | syncopation |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌsɪŋ.kəˈpeɪ.ʃən/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #88,907 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “syncopation” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
syncopation is uncommon English at frequency #88,907 among 54,294 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌsɪŋ.kəˈpeɪ.ʃən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
syncopation doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From syncopate + -ion. The phonological sense was first attested in English in the 1530's, the musical sense in the 1590's. The correct English form is syncopation, spelled S-Y-N-C-O-P-A-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1The contraction of a word by means of loss or omission of sounds or syllables in the middle thereof.
- 2The quality of a rhythm being somehow unexpected, in that it deviates from the strict succession of regularly spaced strong and weak beats in a meter.
Etymology
From syncopate + -ion. The phonological sense was first attested in English in the 1530's, the musical sense in the 1590's.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “syncopation”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-Y-N-C-O-P-A-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌsɪŋ.kəˈpeɪ.ʃən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.