Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

symbolic

/sɪmbˈɑlɪk/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.86 in modern English

Syllables: sym-bo-lic
IPA: /sɪmbˈɑlɪk/

17

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

3

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Pertaining to a symbol.

adj

Implicitly representing or referring to another thing.

Example Sentences

"Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […]. Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. When a series of bank failures made this impossible, there was widespread anger, leading to the public humiliation of symbolic figures."
"a symbolic gesture"
"They viewed the power shift and diversity as a symbolic but meaningful rebuke of the Islamophobic rhetoric that was a central theme of then Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign."
"As a sign-off, they played the video for 1979 new wave classic, a symbolic choice at it was also the first video that MTV ever aired when it launched in the US in 1981."

Etymology

From French symbolique or directly from Latin symbolicus, from Ancient Greek συμβολικός (sumbolikós, “of or belonging to a symbol”), equivalent to symbol + -ic.

Inflected Forms

more symbolic (comparative) most symbolic (superlative)

Derived Forms

antisymbolic asymbolic concolic ethnosymbolic multisymbolic neurosymbolic nonsymbolic postsymbolic presymbolic shambolic sociosymbolic subsymbolic

Phrases

Blissard's symbolic method sound-symbolic symbolic constant symbolic expression symbolic interactionism symbolic language symbolic link symbolic logic

Frequently Paired Words

symbol symbolism symbolist symbolistic symbolization symbolisation symbolize symbolise

Synonyms

emblematic emblematical symbolical

Rhymes With

alcoholic non-alcoholic metabolic hyperbolic parabolic anabolic melancholic folic frolic workaholic vitriolic phenolic

Questions

How do you pronounce symbolic?: The recorded pronunciation is /sɪmbˈɑlɪk/.
What does symbolic mean?: Pertaining to a symbol.
Where does symbolic come from?: From French symbolique or directly from Latin symbolicus, from Ancient Greek συμβολικός (sumbolikós, “of or belonging to a symbol”), equivalent to symbol + -ic.

How to pronounce symbolic

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “symbolic”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/sɪmbˈɑlɪk/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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