adjective
syntactic
sin-TAK-tik
Syntactic (adjective) means relating to or concerned with syntax, the arrangement of words in a sentence. Example: “The teacher pointed out a syntactic error in the student's essay.”
adjective
1
Relating to or concerned with syntax, the arrangement of words in a sentence.
"The teacher pointed out a syntactic error in the student's essay."
"Linguists study the syntactic rules that govern word order in a language."
"Two sentences can share the same words but differ in their syntactic structure."
How to use syntactic
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishIt just means to do with how words are put together in a sentence.
When to use it
It is a technical term mostly used in linguistics and grammar teaching.
Memory tip
Keep it apart from semantic, which is about meaning rather than word order.
Trace the full origin ↓
Easily confused with
Common pairings
syntactic structure
syntactic rules
syntactic error
syntactic analysis
Vocabulary Flow
Build your vocabulary from words like syntactic.
Vocabulary Flow serves the next word, and the next — meaning, pronunciation and an example each time. Practice at your level, or learn English in your own language.
Start vocabulary practice
Fill the gap
Can you complete this real example?
The teacher pointed out a _____ error in the student's essay.
Etymology
The word comes from New Latin syntacticus, which itself traces back to Ancient Greek suntaktikos.
Synonyms
View more →
syntactical
Rhymes for syntactic
See all rhymes for syntactic →Frequently asked questions
What does syntactic mean?
It describes anything to do with syntax, meaning how words are ordered and combined in a sentence.
Is syntactic the same as syntactical?
Yes, the two words are used interchangeably to mean the same thing.
How is syntactic used in linguistics?
Linguists use it to describe rules, structures or errors connected with word order and sentence grammar.
What is the meaning of syntactic?
"syntactic" (adjective) means relating to or concerned with syntax, the arrangement of words in a sentence.
