| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| phatic |
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| SYLLABICATION: | phat·ic |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  f t  k |
| ADJECTIVE: | Of, relating to, or being speech used to share feelings or to establish a mood of sociability rather than to communicate information or ideas. | | ETYMOLOGY: | From Greek phatos, spoken, from phanai, to speak. See –phasia. | | OTHER FORMS: | phati·cal·ly —ADVERB
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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