emphasis

American  

[em-fuh-sis] / ˈɛm fə sɪs /

noun

emphases plural

1. special stress laid upon, or importance attached to, anything.

   The president's statement gave emphasis to the budgetary crisis.

2. something that is given great stress or importance.

   Morality was the emphasis of his speech.

3. Rhetoric.

   1. special and significant stress of voice laid on particular words or syllables.

   2. stress laid on particular words, by means of position, repetition, or other indication.

4. intensity or force of expression, action, etc..

   Determination lent emphasis to his proposals.

5. prominence, as of form or outline.

   The background detracts from the emphasis of the figure.

6. Electronics. preemphasis.

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emphasis British  

/ ˈɛmfəsɪs /

noun

1. special importance or significance

2. an object, idea, etc, that is given special importance or significance

3. stress made to fall on a particular syllable, word, or phrase in speaking

4. force or intensity of expression

   he spoke with special emphasis on the subject of civil rights

5. sharpness or clarity of form or outline

   the sunlight gave emphasis to the shape of the mountain

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• misemphasis
  noun
• reemphasis
  noun
• superemphasis
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• emphases
  plural

Etymology

Origin of emphasis

First recorded in 1565–75; from Latin, from Greek émphasis “indication,” equivalent to em- em- ² + phásis phasis

Explanation

While the emphasis, or main focus, for walking a dog might be on "answering the call of nature," the emphasis for the dog might be on chasing squirrels. If you say emphasis a little louder or with extra oomph in your pronunciation, you are putting emphasis on the word. This emphasis makes it clear that special attention, or emphasis, should be given to the word. Now, having repeated emphasis so many times, the "s" sound really stands out, sort of like in the word "stress." When you stress a point, you put emphasis on something — it is the main thing, the emphasis.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

emphasis emphases

As the pace of AI spending continues to pick up, investors have placed increased emphasis on return on investment.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026

She’s also noticed that declining emphasis on the Western canon of literature has brought on a new, bookish tribalism.

From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026

Nolan preserves the broad arc of Odysseus’ struggle to return home while freely reshaping what happens along the way, often shifting the emphasis from the mythological to the psychological.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

Amazon, a leading provider of computing power to the Pentagon, is spending $50 billion to expand capacity for government agencies with an emphasis on the Defense Department.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

She stamped both her feet for emphasis, as if trying to squash an elusive bug.

From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood

The show’s photos, predominantly in black and white, document these dramatic emphases as revealed by the stances and gestures of Graham and her dedicated group of women.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026

Their language and emphases may be different, but the diagnosis is the same.

From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2025

The difference was not just one of opposing political ideologies but of vastly different cultural and human emphases.

From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2024

“Coming to work, being humble and understanding that we haven’t done much,” McCain said of the defense’s emphases.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 17, 2022

This was founded upon the same basis 228 as the theory of Caccini, which condemned emphatically the indiscriminate employment of swelled tones, exclamatory emphases and other vocal devices.

From Some Forerunners of Italian Opera by Henderson, W. J. (William James)

Related Words

• attention
• insistence
• intensity
• priority
• significance
• strength
• stress
• weight