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.

2. emphasis(n.)

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

Origin: [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

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

Origin: [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

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

Sample Sentences & Example Usage

1. Bill Bihlman:

   You can see why there's so much emphasis on titanium.

2. Peter Andrew:

   There needs to be an emphasis on small housebuilders.

3. Tom Stoppard:

   Revolution is a trivial shift in the emphasis of suffering.

4. Robert Eckel:

   I think the emphasis need to be on the overall diet pattern.

5. John Wilson:

   There doesn’t seem to be enough emphasis on what we’re losing.

Images & Illustrations of emphasis