emphatic

American  

[em-fat-ik] / ɛmˈfæt ɪk /

adjective

1. uttered, or to be uttered, with emphasis; strongly expressive.

2. using emphasis in speech or action.

3. forceful; insistent.

   a big, emphatic man; I must be emphatic about this particular.

   Synonyms:

   definite, unequivocal, decided, pronounced, forcible, energetic, positive

   Antonyms:

   weak

4. very impressive or significant; strongly marked; striking.

   the emphatic beauty of sunset.

5. clearly or boldly outlined.

   It stands, like a great, stone dagger, emphatic against the sky.

6. Grammar. of or relating to a form used to add emphasis, especially, in English, stressed auxiliary do in affirmative statements, as in He did call you or I do like it.

7. Phonetics. having a secondary velar articulation, as certain dental consonants in Arabic.

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noun

1. an emphatic consonant.

emphatic British  

/ ɪmˈfætɪk /

adjective

1. expressed, spoken, or done with emphasis

2. forceful and positive; definite; direct

   an emphatic personality

3. sharp or clear in form, contour, or outline

4. important or significant; stressed

   the emphatic points in an argument

5. phonetics denoting certain dental consonants of Arabic that are pronounced with accompanying pharyngeal constriction

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noun

1. phonetics an emphatic consonant, as used in Arabic

Other Word Forms

• emphatically adverb
• emphaticalness noun
• unemphatic adjective
• unemphatically adverb

Etymology

Origin of emphatic

1700–10; < Greek emphatikós indicative, forceful, equivalent to *emphat ( ós ) ( em- em- ² + phatós, variant of phantós visible, equivalent to phan-, stem of phaínesthai to appear + -tos adj. suffix) + -ikos -ic

Related Words

• assertive
• categorical
• confident
• definite
• definitive
• energetic
• explicit
• forceful
• impressive
• pronounced
• resounding
• sober
• sure
• telling
• unmistakable
• vigorous