syntactic
adjective
syn·tac·tic sin-ˈtak-tik 
variants or syntactical
sin-ˈtak-ti-kəl
: of, relating to, or according to the rules of syntax or syntactics
syntactically
sin-ˈtak-ti-k(ə-)lē
adverb 
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web The syntactic construction of the expression has a clear intent, both confirming the death of one monarch and the rise of another. 
Elise Taylor, Vogue, 8 Sep. 2022 There is a deep hunger that Sondheim satisfies, for intelligence and syntactic rigor in a form that in lesser hands comes across as pat and lazy. Peter Marks, Washington Post, 15 Aug. 2022 Chomsky cannot see any possibility that his interlocutor might make a valid point or two, or that any non-Chomskyan idea in syntactic theory might prove defensible. Geoffrey K. Pullum, National Review, 17 Feb. 2022 Their arguments were syntactic, based on where specific words and phrases could occur in grammatical sentences, and what would permit transformational operations to be simplified. Geoffrey K. Pullum, National Review, 17 Feb. 2022 One accepts it in this single case because this writer keeps a kind of terrifying command; the sentences jump ahead of even the most perceptive reader, with a syntactic thrust sufficiently forceful to overcome the aforementioned rules. Kerry Howley, Vulture, 25 Dec. 2021 An extra clause is a kind of deceit, a syntactic opportunity to hide the ball, contrary to the straight-shooting world of the TED talk, of counter-intuitive factoids delivered with Gladwellian regularity. Kerry Howley, Vulture, 25 Dec. 2021 Only years of practice, and perhaps a certain gift for syntactic complexity, can bring the practitioner to the highest level. George Calhoun, Forbes, 10 May 2021 Enjambment, when a syntactic unit overflows from one line to the next, is a bedrock poetic practice, one that endows poets with the capacity to make and remake meaning. Adam Bradley, New York Times, 4 Mar. 2021 See More
Elise Taylor, Vogue, 8 Sep. 2022 There is a deep hunger that Sondheim satisfies, for intelligence and syntactic rigor in a form that in lesser hands comes across as pat and lazy. Peter Marks, Washington Post, 15 Aug. 2022 Chomsky cannot see any possibility that his interlocutor might make a valid point or two, or that any non-Chomskyan idea in syntactic theory might prove defensible. Geoffrey K. Pullum, National Review, 17 Feb. 2022 Their arguments were syntactic, based on where specific words and phrases could occur in grammatical sentences, and what would permit transformational operations to be simplified. Geoffrey K. Pullum, National Review, 17 Feb. 2022 One accepts it in this single case because this writer keeps a kind of terrifying command; the sentences jump ahead of even the most perceptive reader, with a syntactic thrust sufficiently forceful to overcome the aforementioned rules. Kerry Howley, Vulture, 25 Dec. 2021 An extra clause is a kind of deceit, a syntactic opportunity to hide the ball, contrary to the straight-shooting world of the TED talk, of counter-intuitive factoids delivered with Gladwellian regularity. Kerry Howley, Vulture, 25 Dec. 2021 Only years of practice, and perhaps a certain gift for syntactic complexity, can bring the practitioner to the highest level. George Calhoun, Forbes, 10 May 2021 Enjambment, when a syntactic unit overflows from one line to the next, is a bedrock poetic practice, one that endows poets with the capacity to make and remake meaning. Adam Bradley, New York Times, 4 Mar. 2021 See More Word History
Etymology
New Latin syntacticus, from Greek syntaktikos arranging together, from syntassein
First Known Use
1577, in the meaning defined above
Medical Definition
syntactic
adjective
syn·tac·tic sin-ˈtak-tik
variants or syntactical
-ti-kəl
: of or relating to syntactics