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

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

1. emphasis, accentnoun

   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, emphasisnoun

   intensity or forcefulness of expression

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

3. emphasisnoun

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

4. stress, emphasis, accentnoun

   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(3.50 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. emphasisnoun

   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. emphasisnoun

   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. emphasisnoun

   Special weight or forcefulness given to something considered important.

   He paused for emphasis before saying who had won.

2. emphasisnoun

   Special attention or prominence given to something.

   Anglia TV's emphasis is on Norwich and district.

3. emphasisnoun

   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. emphasisnoun

   Related to bold.

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

1. Emphasisnoun

   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. Emphasisnoun

   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.

Matched Categories

1. • Importance
   • Prosody
   • Rhetorical Device

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

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

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. Ferd Hoefner:

   If you put more emphasis on things that relate to organic produce or new farmers or renewable energy on farms, then there might be more public support for a bill that otherwise, in broad strokes, the general public things of as having big subsidies for big farms.

2. Muge Cevik:

   There's so much emphasis on people not breaking the rules, but the majority are actually following the rules.

3. John Wilson:

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

4. Jessi Miley-Dyer:

   It was an important statement to make around the value of our athletes. More than anything, it speaks to the emphasis on women’s surfing. We believe men and women are valued the same, it’s the right thing to do.

5. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif:

   Democracy creates far better opportunities for both economic growth and cultural progress than the authoritarian regimes. My government has placed strong emphasis on bold economic reforms to achieve significant improvement in all sectors of the economy, it (GDP) is expected to be over 5 percent this year.

Images & Illustrations of emphasis

Popularity rank by frequency of use