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Literature vocabulary · Literary Devices and Figures of Speech

Asyndeton

Meaning in literature, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In literature, asyndeton means: The deliberate omission of conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses.

In Turkish: bağlaçsız sıralama, asindeton

How it is used

Use when omitted conjunctions create pace or force; ordinary lists do not always need this label.

Example sentences

  1. The asyndeton in 'he ran, stumbled, fell' makes the escape feel breathless.

    Closely packed actions accelerate the description of movement.

  2. Her final paragraph uses asyndeton to list the objects left in the empty room.

    The bare sequence presents the objects without explanatory connections.

Common collocations

  • use asyndeton
  • asyndeton in prose
  • dictionA writer's or speaker's choice of words, especially as it shapes tone, style, formality, and meaning.
  • rhythmThe pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables, pauses and speed in a line of poetry or prose, which gives it a sense of movement.

More terms: Literary Devices and Figures of Speech

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