Home › Glossary › Letter S

Syncrisis

Rhetorical Devices
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A detailed comparison between contrasting people, things, or situations. It reveals character or value through paired examination.

Detailed Definition
Syncrisis places two subjects beside one another so that their differences and similarities become meaningful. A poet may contrast a faithful worker with a boastful ruler, a living city with its ruined past, or youthful hope with aged knowledge. Unlike a casual comparison, syncrisis develops both sides in parallel detail. The device can praise one figure by diminishing another, complicate easy judgments, or show how identity emerges through contrast. It is common in satire, elegy, and moral poetry.
Example
Example in poetry:
“The king wears gold while the farmer wears mud, yet both kneel before winter” compares two figures in parallel; “Like Achilles, the young soldier seeks glory, but like Hector, he fights for home” sets heroic models against each other; “One sister gathers flowers, the other gathers debts” uses balanced comparison to reveal contrast; “The poem places the rich man’s warm house beside the widow’s cold room to sharpen its social criticism”
Additional Notes
Syncrisis develops a balanced comparison, often placing two figures or situations side by side to reveal their differences. A poem might contrast a ruler with a laborer, or a remembered home with a present one. Parallel structure helps readers track the paired evaluation.
Also Known As
Comparatio Comparison
Skip to main content