synthetic (adj.)

  1. involving or of the nature of synthesis (combining separate elements to form a coherent whole) as opposed to analysis; limnology is essentially a synthetic science composed of elements...that extend well beyond the limits of biology- P.S.Welch

    [ Syn: synthetical ]

  2. systematic combining of root and modifying elements into single words

  3. of a proposition whose truth value is determined by observation or facts; `all men are arrogant is a synthetic proposition

    [ Syn: synthetical ]

    synthetic (n.)

  1. a compound made artificially by chemical reactions

    [ Syn: synthetic substance ]

    synthetic (adj.)

  1. not of natural origin; prepared or made artificially; man-made fibers; synthetic leather

    [ Syn: man-made , semisynthetic ]

  2. artificial as if portrayed in a film; a novel with flat celluloid characters

    [ Syn: celluloid ]

  3. not genuine or natural; counterfeit rhetoric that flourishes when passions are synthetic- George Will

The dictionary is based on the WordNet Electronic Lexical Database.
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