emphatic
em·phat·ic
adj \im-ˈfa-tik, em-\Definition of EMPHATIC
1
: uttered with or marked by emphasis <an emphatic refusal>
2
: tending to express oneself in forceful speech or to take decisive action
3
: attracting special attention
4
: constituting or belonging to a set of tense forms in English consisting of the auxiliary do followed by an infinitive without to that are used to facilitate rhetorical inversion or to emphasize something
— em·phat·i·cal·ly \-ˈfa-ti-k(ə-)lē\ adverb
See Examples of EMPHATIC
- They were emphatic about their political differences.
- <the governor issued an emphatic denial of all charges>
Origin of EMPHATIC
Greek emphatikos, from emphainein
First Known Use: 1635
Related to EMPHATIC
Synonyms: aggressive, assertive, dynamic, energetic, forceful, full-blooded, muscular, resounding, strenuous, vehement, vigorous, violent
Related Words: decided, insistent, marked, pointed; absolute, categorical (also categoric), clear, plain, unambiguous, unequivocal; arresting, compelling, conspicuous, impelling, noticeable, striking
Near Antonyms: guarded, mild, uncompelling, weak, wishy-washy; ambiguous, equivocal, halting, hesitant; understated
Rhymes with EMPHATIC
agnatic, aquatic, asthmatic, Carnatic, chromatic, climatic, comatic, dalmatic, dogmatic, dramatic, ecstatic, erratic, eustatic, fanatic, hepatic, judgmatic, komatik, lymphatic, magmatic, neumatic, phlegmatic, plasmatic, pneumatic, pragmatic, prismatic, protatic, quadratic, rheumatic, schematic, schismatic, sciatic, Socratic, somatic, spermatic, stigmatic, sylvatic, thematic, traumatic, villatic
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