synthetic
/sɪnˈθɛtɪk/adjective, noun
synthetic is spelled S-Y-N-T-H-E-T-I-C: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 8.9 times per million words in written English, the 7,672nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, synthetic means “Of, or relating to synthesis” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in synthetic?
| Letters | 9: S-Y-N-T-H-E-T-I-C |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 8.9 times per million words; the 7,672nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is synthetic?
Synthetic appears 8.9 times per million words in written English, the 7,672nd 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 synthetic?
- /sɪnˈθɛtɪk/
Synthetic has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-synthetic.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of synthetic
- more synthetic comparative
- most synthetic superlative
- synthetics plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does synthetic mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Of, or relating to synthesis.
- 2
Produced by synthesis instead of being isolated from a natural source (but may be identical to a product so obtained).
- 3
Produced by synthesis, thought to have the same effect as its natural counterpart, but chemically different from it.
- 4
Of a smell, taste, or other sensory quality: artificial; perceptible as an unnatural taste.
- 5
Artificial, not genuine.
- 6
Pertaining to the joining of bound morphemes in a word (compare analytic).
- 7
Of a language, having a grammar principally dependent on the use of bound morphemes to indicate syntactic relationships.
noun
- 1
A synthetic compound.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate synthetic?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of synthetic: syn, synth.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Synthetic in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | synthétique |
| Portuguese | sintético , artificial |
| German | synthetisch |
| Spanish | sintético |
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 synthetic come from?
From French synthétique, from Ancient Greek συνθετικός (sunthetikós); Equivalent to synthesis + -ic (suffix formation of -tic).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).