What does emphasis mean?
Definitions for emphasis
ˈɛm fə sɪs; -ˌsizem·pha·sis
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word emphasis.
Princeton's WordNet
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"
vehemence, emphasisnoun
intensity or forcefulness of expression
"the vehemence of his denial"; "his emphasis on civil rights"
emphasisnoun
special and significant stress by means of position or repetition e.g.
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
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.
emphasisnoun
something to which great importance is attached; as, the need for increased spending on education was the emphasis of his speech.
Wiktionary
emphasisnoun
Special weight or forcefulness given to something considered important.
He paused for emphasis before saying who had won.
emphasisnoun
Special attention or prominence given to something.
Anglia TV's emphasis is on Norwich and district.
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.
emphasisnoun
Related to bold.
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
EMPHASISnoun
A remarkable stress laid upon a word or sentence; particular force impressed by stile or pronunciation.
Etymology: ἔμφασις.
Oh, that brave Cæsar!
—— Be choak’d with such another emphasis. William Shakespeare, Ant. and Cleop.Emphasis not so much regards the time as a certain grandeur, whereby some letter, syllable, word, or sentence is rendered more remarkable than the rest, by a more vigorous pronunciation, and a longer stay upon it. William Holder, Elem. of Speech.
These questions have force and emphasis, if they be understood of the antediluvian earth. Thomas Burnet, Theory of the Earth.
ChatGPT
emphasis
Emphasis refers to special importance, value, or prominence given to something such as a word, idea, or action. It is a way of making something more noticeable or significant, often through repetition, contrast, or a change in tone, volume, or pitch in speech, or through specific formatting or style in writing.
Webster Dictionary
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
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.]
Wikidata
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
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
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
British National Corpus
Spoken Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'emphasis' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1861
Written Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'emphasis' in Written Corpus Frequency: #3690
Nouns Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'emphasis' in Nouns Frequency: #857
Usage in printed sourcesFrom:
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Anagrams for emphasis »
misshape
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of emphasis in Chaldean Numerology is: 3
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of emphasis in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9
Examples of emphasis in a Sentence
There’s been an unfounded emphasis on the ‘ worried well. ’ It’s a term we use in public health for people who are not necessarily at risk for a disease or a condition but who take up a lot of resources.
BIPARTISAN BREAKTHROUGH ? POLS UNVEIL BACK TO WORK PLAN FOR REOPENING ECONOMY WITH EMPHASIS ON Tom Reed said hes confident the White House and White House and Senate negotiators will find a middle ground between the Houses $ 3 trillion bill that passed in May and the Senate GOPs $ 1 trillion proposal that was unveiled this week. Obviously, we have to do a deal, not to do anything is a disservice to the American people. The institution of Congress is better than that.
Given Cuba’s emphasis on a strong education, I know there’s a lot we can learn from each other, the District will continue to draw on best practices from around the globe as we close the achievement gap and prepare the next generation for the jobs of tomorrow.
I didn't feel comfortable missing that many games, not being able to play at full strength in the playoffs against Phoenix ... that didn't sit well with me. I made an emphasis on taking care of my body, getting my body back to what it was strength-wise my first year here.
Sometimes there's too much of an emphasis on books in general. You can create a good room with books ; you can create a good room without books, but If you go books, there are things we feel are must avoids.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
References
Translations for emphasis
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- تركيزArabic
- баҫымBashkir
- акцент, ударение, подчертаванеBulgarian
- èmfasiCatalan, Valencian
- důrazCzech
- Nachdruck, Gewichtung, Emphase, BetonungGerman
- έμφασηGreek
- énfasisSpanish
- paino, painotus, painottaaFinnish
- accent, emphaseFrench
- cudromScottish Gaelic
- hangsúly, nyomatékHungarian
- enfasiItalian
- 強勢, 注目, 強調, 重点Japanese
- Akzent, BetounungLuxembourgish, Letzeburgesch
- benadrukking, nadruk, beklemtoning, klemtoonDutch
- vektleggingNorwegian
- ênfasePortuguese
- акцент, особое внимание, ударение, подчёркиваниеRussian
- வலியுறுத்தல்Tamil
Get even more translations for emphasis »
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"emphasis." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 20 Mar. 2025. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/emphasis>.
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