Meaning & use
synthesised
Last updated
“synthesised” is a form of “synthesise”.
Meanings
verbtransitivetechnical
Made a compound or substance by combining simpler chemicals or parts, often in a laboratory or inside a living cell.
Grammar: Takes an object: the team synthesised a new drug.
Patterns
- synthesise something from something
The chemists synthesised the compound from two cheap starting materials.
Plants use sunlight to produce sugar, which is synthesised in their leaves.
The researchers synthesised a new plastic that breaks down in seawater.
verbtransitiveformal
Combined separate ideas, facts or sources into a single connected whole.
Grammar: Takes an object: she synthesised the findings into a clear report.
Patterns
- synthesise something into something
- synthesise information from something
The author synthesised ideas from three different fields.
Our teacher asked us to read the articles and synthesised them into one argument.
She synthesised months of interviews into a ten-page summary.
adjectivebefore a nountechnical
Produced artificially by combining substances or sounds, rather than occurring naturally; often said of electronic music or voices.
Grammar: Used as a describing word before a noun: a synthesised voice.
The film used a synthesised voice for the robot.
The band added a synthesised bass line to the track.
A synthesised version of the hormone is given to patients.
Word forms
| base form | synthesise |
|---|---|
| third person singular | synthesises |
| past tense | synthesised |
| -ing form | synthesising |
Common combinations
- synthesised in the lab
- The molecule was first synthesised in the lab in 1962.
- synthesised voice
- Her phone reads messages aloud in a synthesised voice.
- synthesised information
- The report contains synthesised information from many studies.
- artificially synthesised
- The vitamin is artificially synthesised for use in cereals.
- synthesised from
- The dye is synthesised from coal tar.
Synonyms and how they differ
- manufactured
- Manufactured is a general word for making in a factory and says nothing about combining simpler chemical parts.
- combined
- Combined is plainer and just means joined together, without the sense of building something new and complex.
- integrated
- Integrated stresses fitting parts into a smooth system, while synthesised stresses producing a new whole.
- artificial
- Artificial is an adjective that contrasts with natural, whereas synthesised names the process that made something.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: synthesised or synthetic?
synthesised vs synthetic
Synthetic is an adjective meaning man-made. Synthesised is a verb form or adjective meaning produced by a specific process of combining.
Practice
The pharmaceutical company ______ the drug in a laboratory from simple chemicals.
Choose one answer.
Synthesised means made by combining simpler substances. Discovered would suggest it already existed in nature, so it does not fit a drug built in a lab.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “synthesised”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.