holophrasis Syllabification: (ho·loph·ra·sis)Pronunciation: /həˈläfrəsis/Definition of holophrasis noun the expression of a whole phrase in a single word, for example howdy for how do you do. the learning of linguistic elements as whole chunks by very young children acquiring their first language, for example it’s all gone learned as allgone. Derivatives holophrasePronunciation: /ˈhäləˌfrāz, ˈhōlə-/ noun holophrasticPronunciation: /ˌhäləˈfrastik, hōlə-/ adjective holophrasis in other Oxford dictionaries Definition of holophrasis in the British & World English dictionary