Definitions for emphasis
ˈɛm fə sɪs; -ˌsizem·pha·sis

Princeton's WordNet(4.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. emphasis, accent(noun)

   special importance or significance

   "the red light gave the central figure increased emphasis"; "the room was decorated in shades of grey with distinctive red accents"

2. vehemence, emphasis(noun)

   intensity or forcefulness of expression

   "the vehemence of his denial"; "his emphasis on civil rights"

3. emphasis(noun)

   special and significant stress by means of position or repetition e.g.

4. stress, emphasis, accent(noun)

   the relative prominence of a syllable or musical note (especially with regard to stress or pitch)

   "he put the stress on the wrong syllable"

GCIDE(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. emphasis(n.)

   a special attention given to, or extra importance attached to, something; as, a guided tour of Egypt with emphasis on the monuments along the Nile.

   Etymology: [L., fr. Gr. 'e`mfasis significance, force of expression, fr. 'emfai`nein to show in, indicate; 'en in + fai`nein to show. See In, and Phase.]

2. emphasis(n.)

   something to which great importance is attached; as, the need for increased spending on education was the emphasis of his speech.

   Etymology: [L., fr. Gr. 'e`mfasis significance, force of expression, fr. 'emfai`nein to show in, indicate; 'en in + fai`nein to show. See In, and Phase.]

Wiktionary(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. emphasis(Noun)

   Special weight or forcefulness given to something considered important.

   He paused for emphasis before saying who had won.

2. emphasis(Noun)

   Special attention or prominence given to something.

   Anglia TV's emphasis is on Norwich and district.

3. emphasis(Noun)

   Prominence given to a syllable or words, by raising the voice or printing in italic or underlined type.

   He used a yellow highlighter to indicate where to give emphasis in his speech.

4. emphasis(Noun)

   Related to bold.

Webster Dictionary(3.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Emphasis(noun)

   a particular stress of utterance, or force of voice, given in reading and speaking to one or more words whose signification the speaker intends to impress specially upon his audience

   Etymology: [L., fr. Gr. 'e`mfasis significance, force of expression, fr. 'emfai`nein to show in, indicate; 'en in + fai`nein to show. See In, and Phase.]

2. Emphasis(noun)

   a peculiar impressiveness of expression or weight of thought; vivid representation, enforcing assent; as, to dwell on a subject with great emphasis

   Etymology: [L., fr. Gr. 'e`mfasis significance, force of expression, fr. 'emfai`nein to show in, indicate; 'en in + fai`nein to show. See In, and Phase.]

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Emphasis

   In typography, emphasis is the exaggeration of words in a text with a font in a different style from the rest of the text—to emphasize them.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Emphasis

   em′fa-sis, n. stress of the voice on particular words or syllables to make the meaning clear: impressiveness of expression or weight of thought: intensity:—pl. Em′phases (-sēz).—v.t. Em′phasīse, to make emphatic.—adjs. Emphat′ic, -al, uttered with or requiring emphasis: forcible: impressive.—adv. Emphat′ically.—n. Emphat′icalness. [L.,—Gr.,—em (=en), in, into, and phasis—phaein, phainein, to show.]

The Roycroft Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. emphasis

   To italicize a lie; to lay great stress on certain sounds that emanate from a larynx and that are intended to hypnotize a tympanum; to be impressive to the point of almost believing ourselves; the double chin of a declarative sentence; oratorical moth-balls.

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'emphasis' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1861

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'emphasis' in Written Corpus Frequency: #3690

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'emphasis' in Nouns Frequency: #857

Anagrams for emphasis »

1. misshape

How to pronounce emphasis?

1. 

   Alex

   US English

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

How to say emphasis in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of emphasis in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of emphasis in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of emphasis in a Sentence

1. Paxton Blair:

   There has been in recent years excessive emphasis on a citizen's rights and inadequate stress put upon his duties and responsibilities.

2. Michel Hockx:

   People who are aware of what education systems are like in other parts of the world are becoming increasingly impatient with the Chinese education system, it has an enormous emphasis on rote learning, classes can spend ludicrous amounts of time repeating the same things again and again, it often doesn't value creativity.

3. Jack Ma:

   The company is likely to redirect to a more focused strategy, with greater emphasis on near term profitability as it seeks to redefine its core business over the medium term.

4. Charlie Hunnam:

   Nobody really knows what we're doing so there'll be a little more emphasis on education for what we've gone out to achieve.

5. Fiona Hibberts:

   The emphasis on sanitation, good hygiene, fresh air exercise, good food... no matter how much we advance, those fundamental foundational principles of Florence are still very much the basis of modern nursing, it's the same old message. Wash your hands.

Images & Illustrations of emphasis

Popularity rank by frequency of use