EMPHASISE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does emphasise mean? 

• EMPHASISE (verb)
  The verb EMPHASISE has 2 senses:

1. give extra weight to (a communication)

2. to stress, single out as important

  Familiarity information: EMPHASISE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• EMPHASISE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they emphasise    ... he / she / it emphasises   
Past simple: emphasised   
Past participle: emphasised   
-ing form: emphasising   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Give extra weight to (a communication)

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

emphasise; emphasize; underline; underscore

Context example:

Her gesture emphasized her words

Hypernyms (to "emphasise" is one way to...):

accent; accentuate; emphasise; emphasize; punctuate; stress (to stress, single out as important)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sense 2

Meaning:

To stress, single out as important

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

accent; accentuate; emphasise; emphasize; punctuate; stress

Context example:

Dr. Jones emphasizes exercise in addition to a change in diet

Hypernyms (to "emphasise" is one way to...):

evince; express; show (give expression to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "emphasise"):

background; downplay; play down (understate the importance or quality of)

bring out; set off (direct attention to, as if by means of contrast)

re-emphasise; re-emphasize (emphasize anew)

bear down (pay special attention to)

topicalize (emphasize by putting heavy stress on or by moving to the front of the sentence)

point up (emphasize, especially by identification)

drive home; press home; ram home (make clear by special emphasis and try to convince somebody of something)

emphasise; emphasize; underline; underscore (give extra weight to (a communication))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

 Context examples 

This was emphasised by the fact that the snowy mountain-top still held the sunset, and seemed to glow out with a delicate cool pink.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Empathy is an important concept within healthcare and as such is emphasised in policy, codes of practice, national clinical guidance and medical training.

(Patients with an ‘empathic’ GP at reduced risk of early death, University of Cambridge)

“It will help us build up a much more detailed picture of how breast cancer arises and develops. But the sheer number of genes now known to play a role emphasises how complex the disease is.”

(Detailed genetic study provides most comprehensive map of risk to date of breast cancer risk, University of Cambridge)

One part converted the human-likeness signal into a ‘human detection’ signal, with activity in this region over-emphasising the boundary between human and non-human stimuli – reacting most strongly to human agents and much less to artificial agents.

(Scientists identify possible source of the ‘Uncanny Valley’ in the brain, University of Cambridge)