hyperzeugma

H4Y4P3E1R1Z10E1U1G2M3A1

noun

A rhetorical figure in which each phrase or clause has its own verb. The opposite of zeugma.

Scrabble 31

Meanings

nounhyperzeugma (uncountable)

alternative hyperzeugmenon

  1. rhetoricuncountableA rhetorical figure in which each phrase or clause has its own verb. The opposite of zeugma.

    Hyperzeugma (hy per ZEUG ma). Opposite of Zeugma. Each phrase has its own verb.

    1991, Richard A. Lanham, (A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms), 2nd edition, Berkeley: University of California Press, page 86
    1 more example

    ...how the impression of the essayist's presence to himself derives from the carefully structured and balanced phrasing, and the play of antithesis, of hyperzeugma (each phrase with its own verb), of repetition, and the suggestive richness of rhyme.

    1996, Regosin, Richard L., (Montaigne's Unruly Brood: Textual Engendering and the Challenge to Paternalist Authority), Berkeley: University of California Press, page 137

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekὑπέρ
  2. Englishhyperzeugma

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ὑπέρ (hupér) + ζεῦγμα (zeûgma, “yoke, bond”)

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

hyperzeugma. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hyperzeugma

MLA

“hyperzeugma.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hyperzeugma. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hyperzeugma,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hyperzeugma.

Source: hyperzeugma on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.