emphasized

American  

[em-fuh-sahyzd] / ˈɛm fəˌsaɪzd /

especially British, emphasised

adjective

1. made more visible, more important, etc.; stressed.

   Read the emphasized sentence carefully, and contrast it with the information given in the previous paragraph.

   Good sportsmanship was the emphasized theme of the club's operations.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of emphasize.

Other Word Forms

• unemphasized
  adjective
• well-emphasized
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of emphasized

emphasize ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Explanation

Something that's emphasized is stressed. The emphasized point of a politician's speech might be lowering taxes. When you put stress on something or pay it extra attention, you can describe it as emphasized. There are emphasized syllables in words, emphasized subjects in school, and emphasized parts of a wedding reception speech. The source of the adjective emphasized is the noun emphasis, "importance or stress." Emphasis is a Greek word, used in rhetoric to mean "significance" or "indirect meaning," from emphainein, "let a thing be seen."

Example Sentences

CDC officials have emphasized they are collaborating with international partners and health officials in impacted countries.

From Barron's • May 18, 2026

Asset allocation, Currie emphasized, is a zero-sum game: “You cannot be overweight everything.”

From MarketWatch • May 15, 2026

In a meta-analysis, he emphasized the importance of comparing only studies with similar laboratory methods.

From Salon • May 15, 2026

—Asian stocks were broadly lower despite a positive tone from the Trump-Xi summit, where both leaders emphasized cooperation.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 2026

The amber color was denser, and like a photographic filter it emphasized some colors and held back others, giving a slightly different cast to the landscape.

From "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman

Related Words

• accentuate
• affirm
• assert
• highlight
• indicate
• maintain
• point out
• reiterate
• repeat
• underline
• underscore