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Glite Dictionary
3️⃣ Having three syllables 3️⃣ A three-syllable word
trisyllabic

trisyllabic

6.8
A word that has three syllables, for example banana
  • noun
  • /ˌtraɪˈsɪləbɪk/
translation icon : trisílabo
  • The teacher asked the class to find a trisyllabic in the reading passage.

Examples

  • Can you think of a trisyllabic that rhymes with 'banana'?

  • The word trisyllabic has three syllables.

  • Many English adjectives, like 'beautiful', are trisyllabic.

  • What is a trisyllabic word?

  • The teacher asked the students to identify a trisyllabic word in the poem.

  • For her spelling test, she had to write three trisyllabic words.

  • An example of a trisyllabic word is 'animal', which has three distinct syllables.

Synonyms

trisyllable
vstrisyllabic
7.0

A word with three syllables

functions as a describing word rather than as a name

How Long

polysyllabic
1 6.9
trisyllabic
6.8
disyllabic
  • Specialized
7.7
monosyllabic
5 7.4

Surface Forms

trisyllabic singular
trisyllabics plural

Morphology

trisyllabic = syllabic (transparent) = tri + syllab + ic

The word clearly means 'three' plus 'syllabic', yielding 'having three syllables'.

Etymology

The word trisyllabic comes from tri- meaning 'three' and syllable meaning 'a sound part of a word', so a trisyllabic as a noun is simply a word you can clap three times, like 'ba-na-na'.