Meaning & use
synthesizer
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Meanings
nouncountable
An electronic musical instrument that produces and shapes sounds, often used to create or imitate other instruments.
Grammar: Countable: a synthesizer, two synthesizers. Often shortened to 'synth' in informal use.
Patterns
- play the synthesizer
- a synthesizer sound
- use a synthesizer to do something
She played a warm pad sound on her synthesizer.
The band's new album features analog synthesizers heavily.
He bought a small synthesizer to use in his home studio.
nouncountabletechnical
A device or software that generates speech or other signals by combining simpler electronic parts.
Grammar: Countable; often used in technical contexts like 'speech synthesizer'.
Patterns
- speech synthesizer
- voice synthesizer
- a synthesizer chip
The app uses a speech synthesizer to read text aloud.
Engineers tested the voice synthesizer for clarity.
A frequency synthesizer generates stable radio signals.
Word forms
| plural | synthesizers |
|---|
Common combinations
- analog synthesizer
- He prefers the warm tone of an analog synthesizer.
- digital synthesizer
- Digital synthesizers can imitate many instruments.
- speech synthesizer
- The speech synthesizer pronounces names incorrectly.
- play the synthesizer
- She learned to play the synthesizer in college.
- synthesizer sound
- That synthesizer sound was popular in the 1980s.
Synonyms and how they differ
- synth
- Informal short form; use 'synthesizer' in formal writing or when you need to be precise.
- keyboard
- A broader term for any electronic keyboard instrument; a synthesizer specifically creates and modifies sounds, while a keyboard may just play preset tones.
Word family
- synthesize verb
- To produce something by combining parts, or to make sound electronically.
- synthesis noun
- The process of combining things to form a whole.
- synthetic adjective
- Made by chemical or artificial processes rather than naturally.
Commonly confused: synthesizer or synthesiser?
synthesizer vs synthesiser
British spelling of the same word; both are correct, but American English prefers 'synthesizer'.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'synthesizer' correctly?
Choose one answer.
We say 'play something on a synthesizer' (like 'on the piano'). 'With' is possible if you mean using it as a tool, but 'on' is the standard collocation for musical instruments.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “synthesizer”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.