emphasis

/ˈɛmfəsəs/

/ˈɛmfəsɪs/

Other forms: emphasises; emphases

While the emphasis, or main focus, for walking a dog might be on "answering the call of nature," the emphasis for the dog might be on chasing squirrels.

If you say emphasis a little louder or with extra oomph in your pronunciation, you are putting emphasis on the word. This emphasis makes it clear that special attention, or emphasis, should be given to the word. Now, having repeated emphasis so many times, the "s" sound really stands out, sort of like in the word "stress." When you stress a point, you put emphasis on something — it is the main thing, the emphasis.

Definitions of emphasis

1. noun

   intensity or forcefulness of expression
   “his emphasis on civil rights”

   synonyms: vehemence

   types:

   overemphasis

   too much emphasis

   type of:

   intensity, intensiveness

   high level or degree; the property of being intense
2. noun

   special importance or significance
   “the red light gave the central figure increased emphasis”

   synonyms: accent

   types:

   focus, stress

   special emphasis attached to something

   type of:

   grandness, importance

   a prominent status
3. noun

   special and significant stress by means of position or repetition
   types:

   topicalization

   (linguistics) emphasis placed on the topic or focus of a sentence by preposing it to the beginning of the sentence; placing the topic at the beginning of the sentence is typical for English

   type of:

   rhetorical device

   a use of language that creates a literary effect (but often without regard for literal significance)
4. noun

   the relative prominence of a syllable or musical note (especially with regard to stress or pitch)
   synonyms: accent, stress

   types:

   accentuation

   the use or application of an accent; the relative prominence of syllables in a phrase or utterance

   pitch accent, tonic accent

   emphasis that results from pitch rather than loudness

   word accent, word stress

   the distribution of stresses within a polysyllabic word

   sentence stress

   the distribution of stresses within a sentence

   type of:

   inflection, prosody

   the patterns of stress and intonation in a language