syncopate

[sing-kuh-peyt, sin-]

verb (used with object)

syncopated, syncopating 

1. Music.

   1. to place (the accents) on beats that are normally unaccented.

   2. to treat (a passage, piece, etc.) in this way.

2. Grammar.,  to contract (a word) by omitting one or more sounds from the middle, as in reducing Gloucester to Gloster.

syncopate

/ ˈsɪŋkəˌpeɪt /

verb

1. music to modify or treat (a beat, rhythm, note, etc) by syncopation

2. to shorten (a word) by omitting sounds or letters from the middle

Other Word Forms

• syncopator noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of syncopate¹

First recorded in 1600–10; Medieval Latin syncopātus (past participle of syncopāre “to shorten by syncope”); syncope, -ate ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of syncopate¹

C17: from Medieval Latin syncopāre to omit a letter or syllable, from Late Latin syncopa _syncope

Example Sentences

In court, Sheeran's team accepted that the two songs share a similar syncopated chord pattern.

From BBC

Glenn also performed an a capella version of “Deep River,” his syncopated low voice and skilled falsetto moving the entire room into snaps, whistles and screams.

From Los Angeles Times

Eva Slater’s 1954 “Galaxy” insets a syncopated network of painted forms within a wooden panel, merging optical motion with material stasis.

From Los Angeles Times

The staging, which can seem cluttered and breathless in the early going, traipses through these seedy locales with a theatrical swiftness that captures the milieu that bred the syncopated rhythm of the Jazz Age.

From Los Angeles Times

Each one’s momentary glow pulses alive and fades in syncopated rhythm with the drowsy croaks of bullfrogs.

From Salon

Related Words

• abbreviate 
• constrict 
• cram 
• restrict 
• shorten 
• shrink 
• squeeze 
• wrap