emphatic
Americanadjective
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uttered, or to be uttered, with emphasis; strongly expressive.
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using emphasis in speech or action.
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forceful; insistent.
a big, emphatic man; I must be emphatic about this particular.
- Synonyms:
- definite, unequivocal, decided, pronounced, forcible, energetic, positive
- Antonyms:
- weak
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very impressive or significant; strongly marked; striking.
the emphatic beauty of sunset.
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clearly or boldly outlined.
It stands, like a great, stone dagger, emphatic against the sky.
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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.
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Phonetics. having a secondary velar articulation, as certain dental consonants in Arabic.
noun
adjective
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expressed, spoken, or done with emphasis
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forceful and positive; definite; direct
an emphatic personality
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sharp or clear in form, contour, or outline
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important or significant; stressed
the emphatic points in an argument
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phonetics denoting certain dental consonants of Arabic that are pronounced with accompanying pharyngeal constriction
noun
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Sri Lanka needed an emphatic win to stay alive but instead exited with a whimper, limping to 107-8 chasing New Zealand's 168-7.
From Barron's
Consecutive, emphatic defeats by Scotland and Ireland, which followed a 12-game winning streak, have scuppered England's hopes of a first Six Nations title in six years.
From Barron's
England came into the Six Nations with hopes of winning a first title since 2020, but their campaign has been sunk by emphatic back-to-back defeats after they were overturned by Scotland in round two.
From BBC
Liu’s gold medal was perhaps the most emphatic response to a topic which hovers over every Games: pressure.
Though smaller in scale, these demonstrations were no less emphatic than those denouncing the martial law attempt.
From BBC
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.
