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Definition of "syncopation" [syn•co•pa•tion]

  • Music A shift of accent in a passage or composition that occurs when a normally weak beat is stressed. (noun)
  • Something, such as rhythm, that is syncopated. (noun)
  • Grammar Syncope. (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 "syncopation" in a sentence
  • "They were quiet for the rest of the short trip, rocking gently on the waves, as the boat headed for the growing island ahead, the light fading, the darkness rising; the waves lapping at the hull like the thuds of a war drum, in syncopation, with regularity."
  • "The rhythmical stress of this syncopation is partly obtained by a marked silent fraction of a beat; frequently this silent fraction is filled in by a hand clap."
  • "When the syncopation is a suspension or retardation, it is treated the same as in harmony."