Dictionary.com
definitions

emphatic

[em-fat-ik]
See more synonyms for emphatic on Thesaurus.com
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.
  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.
noun
  1. an emphatic consonant.

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 formsem·phat·i·cal·ly, adverbem·phat·i·cal·ness, nounun·em·phat·ic, adjectiveun·em·phat·i·cal·ly, adverb

Synonyms for emphatic

See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com
3. positive, energetic, forcible, pronounced, decided, unequivocal, definite.

Antonyms for emphatic

3. weak.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for emphatic

pronounced, resounding, sure, vigorous, definitive, categorical, definite, forceful, explicit, unmistakable, confident, assertive, telling, energetic, sober, impressive, absolute, assured, certain, cogent

Examples from the Web for emphatic

Contemporary Examples of emphatic

Historical Examples of emphatic

  • But as for the liner, it continued with its emphatic reiteration.

  • "I earned that, Martin," she returned determinedly to his emphatic remonstrance.

    Dust

    Mr. and Mrs. Haldeman-Julius

  • He stepped closer to the Lakonian, and spoke with emphatic briefness.

    Priestess of the Flame

    Sewell Peaslee Wright

  • It was their sole, emphatic mission to kill, burn, and destroy.

    King Philip

    John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot) Abbott

  • They were aware that Arulai's "marks" were likely to be emphatic, for Arulai never does things by halves.

    Lotus Buds

    Amy Carmichael

British Dictionary definitions for emphatic

emphatic

adjective
  1. expressed, spoken, or done with emphasis
  2. forceful and positive; definite; directan emphatic personality
  3. sharp or clear in form, contour, or outline
  4. important or significant; stressedthe emphatic points in an argument
  5. phonetics denoting certain dental consonants of Arabic that are pronounced with accompanying pharyngeal constriction
noun
  1. phonetics an emphatic consonant, as used in Arabic

Word Origin for emphatic

C18: from Greek emphatikos expressive, forceful, from emphainein to exhibit, display, from phainein to show
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
Word Origin and History for emphatic
adj.

1708, from Greek emphatikos, variant of emphantikos, from emphainein (see emphasis). Emphatical is earlier (1550s). Related: Emphatically.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper