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.
Emphatically, it was the former, but football is about results.
From BBC • Oct. 9, 2025
Emphatically no: The Jews had so little power during the 1940s that they could not even persuade the U.S. government to bomb the railroad tracks to Auschwitz.
From Washington Post • Sep. 2, 2022
Emphatically, it changed my life and opened doors to a lifelong career in education and community engagement.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 21, 2021
Emphatically stopping a stretch of three straight close games, the Americans advanced to the semifinals by sprinting past Manu Ginobili and Argentina, 105-78.
From Washington Times • Aug. 18, 2016
Emphatically true of Carlyle it is that he creates the standard by which he is judged.
From Thomas Carlyle Famous Scots Series by Macpherson, Hector Carsewell
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.
