emphasis
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
1Other 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 BEASTThere are three grand divisions, or rather determining emphases, by which men may be separated into vocational groups.
Preaching and Paganism | Albert Parker FitchBut they appear in actual experience as controlling emphases rather than mutually exclusive territories.
Preaching and Paganism | Albert Parker FitchDown by the creek the frogs boomed out, and platinum mists lay dreamily between their soft emphases of shadow.
The Tempering | Charles Neville BuckWe 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
/ (ˈɛmfəsɪs) /
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
1Collins 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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