accentuate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
accentuates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
accentuated,
past participle, past
-
accentuating
present participle
-
to give emphasis or prominence to.
-
to place the stress or emphasis on (a particular syllable or word) when pronouncing it or showing its pronunciation.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
accentuatesimple
-
accentuatessimple
-
have accentuatedperfect
-
has accentuatedperfect
-
am accentuatingprogressive
-
are accentuatingprogressive
-
is accentuatingprogressive
-
have been accentuatingperfect progressive
-
has been accentuatingperfect progressive
Past
-
accentuatedsimple
-
had accentuatedperfect
-
was accentuatingprogressive
-
were accentuatingprogressive
-
had been accentuatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of accentuate
First recorded in 1725–35; from Medieval Latin accentuātus intoned (past participle of accentuāre ); see accent, -ate 1
Explanation
To accentuate something is to emphasize it. If you want someone to know you’re from the American South, accentuate your accent by laying it on thick, y’all. When you accentuate, you draw attention to something. You could wear a green shirt to accentuate your green eyes, for example. You can also accentuate words when you give them added stress. An actor might accentuate certain words in a monologue in order to emphasize the character's anger. This word traces all the way back to the Latin verb canere, "to sing."
Vocabulary lists containing accentuate
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "A"
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Essential English Vocabulary, List 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He decided to give classic jerseys a whirl, transforming them into more flattering silhouettes that accentuate a curvy torso.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
But there are plenty of positives to accentuate as the calendar turns.
From Barron's ● Jan. 1, 2026
Clearly, Auggie’s story is shaped to accentuate the positive.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 31, 2025
The kitchen is lit with huge skylights that accentuate the natural wood beams and bring a beautiful bright feeling into the space.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 9, 2025
His head turned slightly would accentuate his strong jawline.
From "Between Shades of Gray" by Ruta Sepetys
Through subtle harmonic shifts on “Crepuscule With Nellie,” perhaps Monk’s loveliest melody, he accentuates the song’s inherent connection to blues and church hymns.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
"It accentuates what they've done," says Dr Barney Wainwright, senior research fellow at Leeds Beckett University.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
Hawley embraces “wonderful peacock” 1850s menswear shapes: Victor’s puffed-out chest accentuates the “wasp waist” likening him to a matador.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2026
The expansive living area boasts a stunning 180-bottle wine cellar and chic overhead lighting that accentuates the open floor plan.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 17, 2025
She accentuates this with a stomp of her rollator on the front porch.
From "A Bird Will Soar" by Alison Green Myers
This will be accentuated by small-cap stocks’ particular sensitivity to moves in bond yields as well as the Nasdaq 100 weakness.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 24, 2026
The eerie mood is accentuated by an introductory film projected on the distant stone and a twangy voice intoning excerpts from the Lincoln speeches etched in the atrium above ground.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
The white cloth that was draped over the jeans-maker’s logo was so thin that the coverup practically accentuated the block letters spelling out its name.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
The rivalry between the pair is only accentuated by the fact they are on either side of the sportswear rivalry.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026
The light, falling on the held accentuated the colors—the green of the artificial turf, the red of the seats like a luscious flowerbed.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
Brown said this weakness — as well as other technical signs accentuating how much the financial sector is underperforming — gives him reason for pause.
From MarketWatch ● May 7, 2026
Slot was in defiant mood in the aftermath of another disappointment, going through his full range of brave faces while accentuating the positive in the face of evidence to the contrary.
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2025
There’s no comedy equivalent of Jean Smart’s hilariously blunt mom in this story; instead, Ingelsby trades that tart energy for a transcendent joy accentuating the disheveled humanity of people who could be any of us.
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2025
Especially impressive is the slowness with which the arms move, his hands accentuating the speech but in a natural way; that is, they don’t move with every sentence.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2025
“The creature you’re chasing is called an aboatia,” the woman answers, accentuating the syllables in the word.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
