/ sɪnˈθetɪk; NAmE / adjective , noun
■ adjective
1.
artificial; made by combining chemical substances rather than being produced naturally by plants or animals
SYN man-made :
synthetic drugs / fabrics
➡ note at artificial
2.
(also ag·glu·tin·ative ) ( linguistics ) ( of languages ) using changes to the ends of words rather than separate words to show the functions of words in a sentence
—compare analytic
► syn·thet·ic·al·ly / -kli; NAmE / adverb
■ noun
an artificial substance or material :
cotton fabrics and synthetics
••
WORD ORIGIN
late 17th cent.: from French synthétique or modern Latin syntheticus , from Greek sunthetikos , based on suntithenai place together.