- (transitive) to give emphasis or prominence to; stress
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
em•pha•size /ˈɛmfəˌsaɪz/USA pronunciation
v. [~ + object], -sized, -siz•ing.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- to give emphasis to;
stress:He emphasized the point I had already made.
em•pha•size
(em′fə sīz′),USA pronunciation v.t., -sized, -siz•ing.
- to give emphasis to;
lay stress upon;
stress:to emphasize a point; to emphasize the eyes with mascara.
- emphas(is) + -ize 1820–30
- accent, accentuate, highlight.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
emphasize, emphasise /ˈɛmfəˌsaɪz/ vb
'emphasize' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
accentuate
- both
- charismatic movement
- cisalpine
- cutaway
- de-emphasize
- dinkum
- enforce
- evangelical
- even
- gesture
- hellfire
- highlighter
- impress
- intensive
- lollop
- only
- Pentecostal
- play up
- point up
- positive
- potlatch
- promise
- remix
- soever
- soft-pedal
- Sufi
- that
- underline
- very
- anecdotal
- by cracky
- cleft sentence
- commercialize
- counterpoint
- coupon
- cover
- dwell
- either
- ever
- flock paper
- hammer
- herstory
- highlight
- home
- honest injun
- jingo
- Jove
- long
- lumper