syntactic sugar

noun

Additions to the syntax of a programming language that make code easier for humans to read or write, but that do not change the functionality or expressiveness of the language.

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Meanings

nounsyntactic sugar (uncountable)
  1. uncountablecomputingAdditions to the syntax of a programming language that make code easier for humans to read or write, but that do not change the functionality or expressiveness of the language.

    In fact, this is how lists are actually built, by consing all elements to the empty list, []. The commas-and-brackets notation is just syntactic sugar, a more pleasant way to write code. So [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] is exactly equivalent to 1:2:3:4:5:[]. ᵂᴮ

Origin

Attributed to British computer scientist Peter Landin.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic التَّجْمِيل اللُّغَوِيّ
  • التَّجْمِيل اللُّغَوِيّ (at-tajmīl al-luḡawiyy)Translations
Chinese Mandarin 語法糖 /语法糖
  • 語法糖 /语法糖 (yǔfǎ táng)Translations
Czech syntaktický cukr
  • syntaktický cukrTranslations
Dutch syntactische suiker
  • syntactische suikerTranslations
Finnish syntaktinen sokeri
  • syntaktinen sokeriTranslations
French sucre syntaxique
  • sucre syntaxiqueTranslations
German syntaktischer Zucker
  • syntaktischer ZuckerTranslations
Italian zucchero sintattico
  • zucchero sintatticoTranslations
Japanese 糖衣構文, 構文糖
  • 糖衣構文 (tōikōbun)Translations
  • 構文糖 (kōbuntō)Translations
  • 構文糖衣 (kōbuntōi)Translations
  • シンタックス・シュガーTranslations
Norwegian Bokmål syntaktisk sukker
  • syntaktisk sukkerTranslations
Polish lukier składniowy, lukier syntaktyczny
  • lukier składniowyTranslations
  • lukier syntaktycznyTranslations
  • cukier syntaktycznyTranslations
  • cukier składniowyTranslations
Portuguese açúcar sintático
  • açúcar sintáticoTranslations
Russian синтакси́ческий са́хар
  • синтакси́ческий са́хар (sintaksíčeskij sáxar)Translations
Spanish azúcar sintáctico
  • azúcar sintácticoTranslations
Swedish syntaktiskt socker
  • syntaktiskt sockerTranslations
Turkish sözdizimsel şeker
  • sözdizimsel şekerTranslations
Ukrainian синтаксичний цукор
  • синтаксичний цукор (syntaksyčnyj cukor)Translations
Cite this entry
APA

syntactic sugar. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/syntactic%20sugar

MLA

“syntactic sugar.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/syntactic%20sugar. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “syntactic sugar,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/syntactic%20sugar.

Source: syntactic sugar on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.