emphatic

• emphatick (obsolete)

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.

• IPA^(key): /ɛmˈfætɪk/, /ɪm-/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (weak vowel merger) IPA^(key): /əmˈfætək/
• Rhymes: -ætɪk

emphatic (comparative more emphatic, superlative most emphatic)

1. Characterized by emphasis; forceful.
   • 2012 June 28, Jamie Jackson, “Wimbledon 2012: Lukas Rosol shocked by miracle win over Rafael Nadal”, in the Guardian‎:

     Yet when play restarted the Czech was a train that kept on running over Nadal. After breaking Nadal in the opening game of the final set, he went 2-0 up and later took the count to 4-2 with yet another emphatic ace – one of his 22 throughout.

2. Stated with conviction.

   He gave me an emphatic no when I asked him out.

3. (grammar) Belonging to a set of English tense forms comprising the auxiliary verb do + an infinitive without to.
4. (phonology) Belonging to a series of obstruent consonants in several Afro-Asiatic languages that are distinguished by a guttural (co-)articulation.

   Antonym: plain

   1. pharyngealized consonants in Arabic, Hebrew, other Northwest Semitic languages, and Berber languages
   2. ejective consonants in Ge'ez, Amharic, other Ethiopic Semitic languages, Chadic and Cushitic languages
5. (phonology, archaic except in layman’s use) Referring to the above consonants as well as /ħ/ and /ʕ/ (these being seen as emphatic equivalents of /h/ and /ʔ/).

• emphatic pronoun
• emphatic state
• emphatical
• emphatically

• emphasis
• emphasise, emphasize

emphatic (plural emphatics)

1. (phonology) An emphatic consonant.
2. (linguistics) A word or phrase adding emphasis, such as "a lot" or "really".

• phatic

• empathic