What Is Asyndeton? | Definition & Examples

Asyndeton is a literary device where conjunctions like “and,” “but,” and “or” are deliberately left out of a sentence or series of clauses. Writers use it to add speed to a passage, increase emphasis, or to change the tone.

Asyndeton definition

When a writer leaves out the expected or grammatically “correct” coordinating conjunction between clauses, it is called asyndeton. This is a literary or rhetorical device that is used to change the feel of a passage.

Normally, coordinating conjunctions are used to connect items which are gramatically equal. There are seven coordinating conjunctions in English that can be easily remembered using the mnemonic device FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so.

Asyndeton only describes the omission of coordinating conjunctions and not other subordinating conjunctions such as “because” or “although.”

Asyndeton applies when conjunctions are omitted between the following:

• Words: Asyndeton is perhaps at its simplest when it refers to missing conjunctions between words. For example, “My head was whirling at the news. I was heady, excited, [and] impatient to leave.”
• Phrases: A phrase is a group of words without a subject and predicate and which cannot stand alone in normal use. Asyndeton can be used to create an effect, (e.g., “The air was warmly sluggish, [and]  thick with moisture”).
• Clauses: “We loved, we lived, we sang, we danced” uses asyndeton. Instead of “…we sang and we danced,” the last clause is preceded by a simple comma. Each of these clauses is an independent clause (i.e. a clause that can stand alone as a sentence).
• Sentences: At the sentence level, asyndeton can add impact to a passage. For example, “He wanted this. He needed this. Nothing would stop him getting it,” has no conjunction connecting the three ideas expressed, but it is clear from the context that they are connected.

Why use asyndeton?

Our brains are perfectly adapted to understand meaning from incomplete sources and at its simplest level, asyndeton might just be a case of economy of words. However, there are other purposes to asyndeton when used by authors and speakers, including:

• Speed and rhythm: Omitting conjunctions can help to establish a rhythm and to increase the speed of a text or speech. In President Obama’s first inaugural speech we find asyndeton in the opening sentence: “I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors.”
• Intensity and emphasis: Using asyndeton can impart a sense of emphasis, layering phrase upon phrase to emphasize urgency and importance. In the same speech by President Obama, he omits conjunctions for emphasis: “Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered.”
• Concision: Leaving out conjunctions can add a concise feel to speech or writing, and is popular in advertising slogans and song lyrics, as in the title and chorus of Fatboy Slim’s “Eat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat.”
• Fragmentation and disorder: Writers seeking to create a sense of unease, disorder, or fragmentation can use asyndeton, such as this example from T. S. Eliot’s Burnt Norton: “Words strain, / Crack and sometimes break, under the burden, / Under the tension, slip, slide, perish, / Decay with imprecision, will not stay in place, / Will not stay still.”

Asyndeton vs polysyndeton

Polysyndeton and asyndeton are antonyms. Instead of omitting conjunctions, polysyndeton is the repetition of conjunctions. It is used to create rhythm (often slowing it down) or to create a sense of increasing tension. Ernest Hemingway was known for his use of polysyndeton in his narrative descriptions, as in this example from Fiesta: The Sun Also Rises:

The example below shows the different rhythms asyndeton and polysyndeton can create.

Asyndeton examples

In this extract from Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, Conrad conveys the sense of horror felt by Marlowe, the narrator, by using asyndeton to build the chilling description of the dying men.

Margaret Atwood uses asyndeton in her dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale as Offred recounts her previous life. It has the effect of communicating her despair and confusion at the way things have turned out.

Frequently asked questions about asyndeton

What is the opposite of asyndeton?

The opposite of asyndeton is polysyndeton. Polysyndeton is the repeated use of conjunctions to create a rhythm or sense of building tension. 

Ernest Hemingway uses polysyndeton in this example from Fiesta: The Sun Also Rises: “It was a warm spring night and I sat at a table on the terrace of the Napolitain after Robert had gone, watching it get dark and the electric signs come on, and the red and green stop-and-go traffic-signal, and the crowd going by, and the horse-cabs clippety-clopping along at the edge of the solid taxi traffic, and the poules going by, singly and in pairs, looking for the evening meal.”

What is an asyndeton example?

This example from T. S. Eliot’s Burnt Norton shows how asyndeton can be used to build an effect: “Words strain, / Crack and sometimes break, under the burden, / Under the tension, slip, slide, perish, / Decay with imprecision, will not stay in place, / Will not stay still.”

Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness creates a sense of gloom and horror with this example of asyndeton: “Black shapes crouched, lay, sat between the trees leaning against the trunks, clinging to the earth, half coming out, half effaced within the dim light, in all the attitudes of pain, abandonment, and despair.”