| a. | 1. | Of or pertaining to synthesis; consisting in synthesis or composition; | |||
| 2. | (Chem.) Artificial. Cf. Synthesis, 2. | ||||
| 3. | (Zool.) Comprising within itself structural or other characters which are usually found only in two or more diverse groups; - said of species, genera, and higher groups. See the Note under Comprehensive, 3.
| ||||
| Noun | 1. | synthetic - a compound made artificially by chemical reactions |
| Adj. | 1. | synthetic - not of natural origin; prepared or made artificially; "man-made fibers"; "synthetic leather" Synonyms: man-made, semisynthetic |
| 2. | synthetic - 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 Synonyms: synthetical Antonyms: analytical, analytic - using or skilled in using analysis (i.e., separating a whole--intellectual or substantial--into its elemental parts or basic principles); "an analytic experiment"; "an analytic approach"; "a keenly analytic man"; "analytical reasoning"; "an analytical mind" | |
| 3. | synthetic - systematic combining of root and modifying elements into single words Antonyms: analytic, uninflected - expressing a grammatical category by using two or more words rather than inflection | |
| 4. | synthetic - of a proposition whose truth value is determined by observation or facts; "`all men are arrogant' is a synthetic proposition" Synonyms: synthetical Antonyms: analytical, analytic - of a proposition that is necessarily true independent of fact or experience; "`all spinsters are unmarried' is an analytic proposition" | |
| 5. | synthetic - artificial as if portrayed in a film; "a novel with flat celluloid characters" Synonyms: celluloid | |
| 6. | synthetic - not genuine or natural; "counterfeit rhetoric that flourishes when passions are synthetic"- George Will |