Definition of EMPHASIS

emphasis

Plural: emphases

Noun

  • Special importance, value, or prominence given to something.
  • special importance or significance
    • "the red light gave the central figure increased emphasis"
  • intensity or forcefulness of expression
    • "his emphasis on civil rights"
  • special and significant stress by means of position or repetition e.g.
  • the relative prominence of a syllable or musical note (especially with regard to stress or pitch)
  • Special weight or forcefulness given to something considered important.
  • Special attention or prominence given to something.
  • Prominence given to a syllable or words, by raising the voice or printing in italic or underlined type.
  • The phonetic or phonological feature that distinguishes emphatic consonants from other consonants.
  • The use of boldface, italics, or other such formatting to highlight text.

Examples

  • Anglia TV's emphasis is on Norwich and district.
  • He paused for emphasis before saying who had won.
  • He used a yellow highlighter to indicate where to give emphasis in his speech.
  • Her strategy placed EMPHASIS on high-scoring letters rather than long words.
  • Put emphasis on the advantages rather than the drawbacks.

Origin / Etymology

From Latin emphasis, from Ancient Greek ἔμφασις (émphasis, “significance”), from ἐμφαίνω (emphaínō, “I present, I indicate”), from ἐν- (en-, “in”) + φαίνω (phaínō, “I show”).

Synonyms

accent, stress, vehemence

Scrabble Score: 15

emphasis: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
emphasis: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
emphasis: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 16

emphasis: valid Words With Friends Word