emphatic

[ em-fat-ik ]
See synonyms for: emphaticemphaticallyemphaticalness on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. uttered, or to be uttered, with emphasis; strongly expressive.

  2. using emphasis in speech or action.

  1. forceful; insistent: a big, emphatic man; I must be emphatic about this particular.

  2. very impressive or significant; strongly marked; striking: the emphatic beauty of sunset.

  3. clearly or boldly outlined: It stands, like a great, stone dagger, emphatic against the sky.

  4. Grammar. of or relating to a form used to add emphasis, especially, in English, stressed auxiliary do in affirmative statements, as in He did call you or I do like it.

  5. Phonetics. having a secondary velar articulation, as certain dental consonants in Arabic.

noun
  1. an emphatic consonant.

Origin of emphatic

1
1700–10; <Greek emphatikós indicative, forceful, equivalent to *emphat(ós) (em-em-2 + phatós, variant of phantós visible, equivalent to phan-, stem of phaínesthai to appear + -tos adj. suffix) + -ikos-ic

Other words for emphatic

Opposites for emphatic

Other words from emphatic

  • em·phat·i·cal·ly, adverb
  • em·phat·i·cal·ness, noun
  • un·em·phat·ic, adjective
  • un·em·phat·i·cal·ly, adverb

Words Nearby emphatic

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How to use emphatic in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for emphatic

emphatic

/ (ɪmˈfætɪk) /


adjective
  1. expressed, spoken, or done with emphasis

  2. forceful and positive; definite; direct: an emphatic personality

  1. sharp or clear in form, contour, or outline

  2. important or significant; stressed: the emphatic points in an argument

  3. phonetics denoting certain dental consonants of Arabic that are pronounced with accompanying pharyngeal constriction

noun
  1. phonetics an emphatic consonant, as used in Arabic

Origin of emphatic

1
C18: from Greek emphatikos expressive, forceful, from emphainein to exhibit, display, from phainein to show

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