emphatically
Britishadverb
-
with emphasis or force
-
definitely or unquestionably
Explanation
When you say something emphatically, you say it with great emphasis and force, like when you emphatically denied that you took the last cookie. Emphatically, pronounced "em-FAT-ick-lee," shares the same origin as emphasize, which means "to stress or put particular importance on something." When you say or do something emphatically, you really mean it. For example, if you emphatically say "no" when someone asks you on a date, that person isn't likely to ask you — or even look in your direction — again.
Vocabulary lists containing emphatically
A Christmas Carol
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The Giver
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Wonder
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
As West Ham found out the hard way on Saturday afternoon when they were thrashed 3-0 by Brentford, poor performances and dropped points are being punished emphatically by rivals this time around.
From BBC • May 4, 2026
County elections officials have emphatically rejected those claims.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 30, 2026
“I’ve been making that case for a long time,” Thune told reporters Wednesday, “and we’ll make it again, and today, I think, even more emphatically given the outcome last night.”
From Slate • Mar. 4, 2026
This is emphatically consistent with the results in other elections in the last year.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 4, 2026
I’m humming again—more emphatically this time—because never in my life have I been so hungry.
From "Odd One Out" by Nic Stone
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
