syllables

noun

plural of syllable
as in licks
the smallest amount or part imaginable you're not making a syllable of sense

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of syllables Other times, Horton acknowledged a Mamukelashvili three by using just his last name, experimenting with which of the many syllables to emphasize. — Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2026 Solfege is a music-teaching method that uses syllables to represent notes on a musical scale. — Kaicey Baylor, CBS News, 12 Oct. 2026 The vapors that had risen from warm bodies in the pews would have carried syllables mixed with candle-soot, distilled as condensation on the chapel windows. — Literary Hub, 22 Sep. 2026 Each person had a small whiteboard and marker, dividing the word up into syllables and adding symbols that showed how to pronounce certain vowels and letters. — Lina Ruiz september 21, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 21 Sep. 2026 Their head coach would pace around them before belting out three syllables. — Sam McDowell, Kansas City Star, 30 Aug. 2026 The goddess Gayatri, a divine manifestation of the Gayatri mantra, is described in the Mahanarayana Upanishad as having five heads, along with three feet, six abdominal sections, and 24 syllables. — Charles Preston, Encyclopedia Britannica, 28 Aug. 2026 Those four syllables, Va-len-ti-no, were enough to set hearts aflutter. — Mark Caro, Chicago Tribune, 23 Aug. 2026 At its best, Abrams’ writing taps into a satisfying cadence where the syllables follow an irresistible internal logic and hit just right. — Molly Mary O’Brien, Pitchfork, 17 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for syllables
  1. licks
  2. hoots
  3. bits
  4. raps
Noun
  • But for the most part, both are getting their points across, landing a few licks and, so far, avoiding the sort of major gaffe or damaging moment that could reshape the race.
    — AJC.com, AJC.com, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Shafee operates in a languid, free-form zone throughout, trading his funky licks for loose, spacious lines and tolling, repetitive chords.
    — Reed Jackson, SPIN, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of licks
Noun
  • Church bells, owl hoots and sprinklers keeping the grass hydrated during this dry spell fill the space between the occasional motor trudging along a main road devoid of commotion.
    — Matt Schneidman, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026
  • Ranging from the sound of emergency sirens and birds screeching to low grunts and guttural hoots, their vocalizations reverberate from a sanctuary in the hot, dry hills of the Santa Clarita Valley, north of Los Angeles.
    — Jaimie Ding, Fortune, 23 Aug. 2026
Definition of hoots
Noun
  • O’Rourke and double bassist Johan Berthling shape a steady drone, while Ishibashi’s piano runs suggest time-lapse footage of ice crystals forming, ordinary little bits cohering into objects of wonder.
    — Grayson Haver Currin, Pitchfork, 15 Oct. 2026
  • Cryptographers responded by lengthening the keys, and 2,048 bits is now considered the minimum.
    — Chris Stokel-Walker, Scientific American, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of bits
Noun
  • From the moment Errol Holden’s raps entered the public sphere in the early 2020s, listening to them has felt like hearing a stranger on the street earnestly tell you how the city has changed.
    — Matthew Ritchie, Pitchfork, 15 Oct. 2026
  • Here was Jay, drawing a line between the increasingly popular molly raps of the 2010s with his own penchant for luxury garments.
    — Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of raps

Browse Nearby Words

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syllables
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Cite this Entry

“Syllables.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/syllables. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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