emphasis

[ em-fuh-sis ]

See synonyms for: emphasis emphases on Thesaurus.com

noun,plural em·pha·ses

[em-fuh-seez]. /ˈɛm fəˌsiz/.

special stress laid upon, or importance attached to, anything: The president's statement gave emphasis to the budgetary crisis.
something that is given great stress or importance: Morality was the emphasis of his speech.

Rhetoric.
- special and significant stress of voice laid on particular words or syllables.
- stress laid on particular words, by means of position, repetition, or other indication.
intensity or force of expression, action, etc.: Determination lent emphasis to his proposals.
prominence, as of form or outline: The background detracts from the emphasis of the figure.
Electronics. preemphasis.

Origin of emphasis

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

Other words from emphasis

mis·em·pha·sis, noun, plural mis·em·pha·ses.
re·em·pha·sis, noun, plural re·em·pha·ses.
su·per·em·pha·sis, noun, plural su·per·em·pha·ses.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use emphasis in a sentence

Ferguson reverses those emphases—focusing solely on this historic meltdown, the who/what/where/why/how.
Inside Job: Hard Lessons Through Pretty Pictures | Randall Lane | October 15, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST
There are three grand divisions, or rather determining emphases, by which men may be separated into vocational groups.
Preaching and Paganism | Albert Parker Fitch
But they appear in actual experience as controlling emphases rather than mutually exclusive territories.
Preaching and Paganism | Albert Parker Fitch
Down by the creek the frogs boomed out, and platinum mists lay dreamily between their soft emphases of shadow.
The Tempering | Charles Neville Buck
We should find them all leading us to essentially the same great emphases.
Theology and the Social Consciousness | Henry Churchill King

The variations and emphases that feeling may dictate can be done in the painting stage.
The Practice and Science Of Drawing | Harold Speed

British Dictionary definitions for emphasis

emphasis

/ (ˈɛmfəsɪs) /

nounplural -ses (-siːz)

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

stress made to fall on a particular syllable, word, or phrase in speaking
force or intensity of expression: he spoke with special emphasis on the subject of civil rights
sharpness or clarity of form or outline: the sunlight gave emphasis to the shape of the mountain

Origin of emphasis

C16: via Latin from Greek: meaning, (in rhetoric) significant stress; see emphatic

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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