Dictionary

emphasise en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (US) audio

Etymology

From emphasis + -ise.

Meanings

1. UK standard spelling of emphasize.
   • Newt Gingrich accused New York mayor Bill De Blasio of “small soy latte liberalism” in 2014 – emphasising that the only thing more girlish than drinking a big dairy milky coffee was drinking a small vegan milky coffee. 2025 September 4, Sam Wolfson, quoting Newt Gingrich, “Latte-swilling ‘performative males’: why milky drinks are shorthand for liberal”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 26 Sep 2025:
   • It has emphasised that the proposals do not involve any work on the railway itself, so train services would continue to run throughout. 2022 January 12, “Network News: £7.2 million plan to stop flooding and protect South West rail link”, in RAIL, number 948, page 12:
   • “I grew up in a Buddhist family,” Thao Nguyen Phan says of her childhood in Vietnam. “Even though the religion here seems to emphasise peace and mindfulness, the land is turbulent, there is always conflict, and the environmental impact on the river has been very dramatic.” 2022 February 28, Rosanna McLaughlin, “Thao Nguyen Phan: ‘There’s beauty and optimism in these tragic stories’”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 07 Apr 2022:

Forms

Deriveds

emphasiser · overemphasise · underemphasise · underemphasised · deemphasise · re-emphasise