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Definition of "asyndeton" [a•syn•de•ton]

  • The omission of conjunctions from constructions in which they would normally be used, as in "Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils,/Shrunk to this little measure?” ( Shakespeare). (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "asyndeton" in a sentence
  • "W. Sean McLaughlin, of Alexandria, Virginia, wrote, I was immediately inspired by the arcane grammatical term asyndeton [defined in the American Heritage Dictionary as 'the omission of conjunctions from constructions in which they would normally be used'] and thought minor modifications might yield the right meaning: a-senditon."
  • "[23] The "asyndeton" would seem to mark a pause, unless some words have dropped out."
  • "This figure often occurs public address with others such as antithesis, anaphora, asyndeton, climax, epistrophe and symploce."