Definition of EMPHATIC

emphatic

Meanings

Plural: emphatics

Adjective Satellite

  • spoken with emphasis
    • "an emphatic word"
  • sudden and strong
    • "an emphatic no"
  • forceful and definite in expression or action
    • "the document contained a particularly emphatic guarantee of religious liberty"

Adj

  • Characterized by emphasis; forceful.
  • Stated with conviction.
  • Belonging to a set of English tense forms comprising the auxiliary verb do + an infinitive without to.
  • Belonging to a series of obstruent consonants in several Afro-Asiatic languages that are distinguished by a guttural (co-)articulation.
  • pharyngealized consonants in Arabic, Hebrew, other Northwest Semitic languages, and Berber languages
  • Belonging to a series of obstruent consonants in several Afro-Asiatic languages that are distinguished by a guttural (co-)articulation.
  • ejective consonants in Ge'ez, Amharic, other Ethiopic Semitic languages, Chadic and Cushitic languages
  • Referring to the above consonants as well as /ħ/ and /ʕ/ (these being seen as emphatic equivalents of /h/ and /ʔ/).

Noun

  • An emphatic consonant.
  • A word or phrase adding emphasis, such as "a lot" or "really".

Origin / Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἐμφατικός (emphatikós, “emphatic”), from ἐμφαίνω (emphaínō, “I show, present”), from ἐν (en, “in”) + φαίνω (phaínō, “I shine, show”); related to ἔμφασις (émphasis) and English emphasis.

Antonyms

plain

Scrabble Score: 17

emphatic is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
emphatic is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
emphatic is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 19

emphatic is a valid Words With Friends word