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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. adj. Expressed or performed with emphasis: responded with an emphatic "no.”
  2. adj. Forceful and definite in expression or action.
  3. adj. Standing out in a striking and clearly defined way.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. Uttered, or to be uttered, with emphasis or stress of voice: as, the emphatic words in a sentence.
  2. Forcibly significant; expressive; impressive: as, an emphatic gesture.
  3. Synonyms Expressive, earnest, energetic, striking.

Wiktionary

  1. adj. Characterized by emphasis.
  2. adj. Stated with conviction.
  3. adj. belonging to set of English tense forms comprising the auxiliary verb do + an infinitive without to
  4. adj. of obstruent consonants in Semitic languages.
  5. n. an emphatic consonant

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. adj. Uttered with emphasis; made prominent and impressive by a peculiar stress of voice; laying stress; deserving of stress or emphasis; forcible; impressive; strong.
  2. adj. Striking the sense; attracting special attention; impressive; forcible.
  3. adj. Forceful and definite in expression or action; -- of statements, actions, or sections of documents.
  4. adj. Sudden and strong; -- of statements.

WordNet 3.0

  1. adj. forceful and definite in expression or action
  2. adj. sudden and strong
  3. adj. spoken with emphasis

Etymologies

  1. Medieval Latin emphaticus, from Greek emphatikos, from emphainein, to exhibit, display; see emphasis.

Examples

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‘emphatic’ has been looked up 3243 times, loved by 3 people, added to 31 lists, and has a Scrabble score of 17.