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

Example Sentences

Though smaller in scale, these demonstrations were no less emphatic than those denouncing the martial law attempt.

From BBC

Arsenal answered questions posed about their nerve under pressure in the most emphatic fashion in the north London derby to suggest this is a Premier League race that will go down to the wire.

From BBC

Goals from Murillo, Igor Jesus and captain Morgan Gibbs-White underpinned a dominant Forest performance that could arguably have delivered an even more emphatic winning margin.

From BBC

American star Mikaela Shiffrin cemented her place among the greats of alpine skiing as she won Olympic slalom gold in emphatic fashion.

From BBC

There were questions asked of Scotland and head coach Gregor Townsend after the opening weekend defeat by Italy but you would struggle to find a more emphatic riposte than their 31-20 victory over England.

From BBC

Related Words

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