emphasis

emphasis — noun

1. special attention or importance given to something, making it stand out as more

1.nounB2
Definition

special attention or importance given to something, making it stand out as more significant than other related things.

Example

Tendai's training programme puts great emphasis on building core strength and flexibility.

collocation: put + emphasis + on + gerund

Lakshmi placed strong emphasis on teamwork when she led the community garden project.

collocation: place + emphasis + on + noun

Common collocations
  • place emphasis on
  • put emphasis on
  • lay emphasis on
  • strong emphasis
  • particular emphasis
  • great emphasis
  • special emphasis
  • increased emphasis
  • renewed emphasis
Synonyms
  • stress

    more direct and interchangeable with 'emphasis' in sense 1; 'stress' also carries a connotation of urgency.

  • importance

    broader term; 'emphasis' specifically implies highlighting something as important, while 'importance' is the general state of being significant.

  • priority

    focuses on the order of attention rather than the degree of importance given.

  • prominence

    suggests something is easily noticed or stands out, often due to position rather than deliberate choice.

Antonyms
  • understatement

    when something is deliberately presented as less important than it really is.

Grammar Patterns

place/put/lay + emphasis + on + noun/gerund

Usage Note

The most common verb patterns with this sense are 'place emphasis on', 'put emphasis on', and (somewhat more formal) 'lay emphasis on'. This sense is uncountable — it does not take an indefinite article or a plural form.

Common Mistakes

The school puts emphasis in reading skills.
The school puts emphasis on reading skills.
the correct preposition is 'on', not 'in'.
The teacher laid an emphasis on grammar.
The teacher laid emphasis on grammar.
in this uncountable sense, no article is needed.

2. the greater loudness or prominence with which a speaker says a particular syllab

2.nounB2
Definition

the greater loudness or prominence with which a speaker says a particular syllable or word.

Example

In the word 'photograph', the emphasis falls on the first syllable.

pattern: emphasis + falls on + syllable

Daichi used strong emphasis on 'never' to show he would not change his mind.

Common collocations
  • emphasis falls on
  • emphasis is on
  • place emphasis on
  • put emphasis on
  • strong emphasis
  • primary emphasis
  • syllable emphasis
  • word emphasis
Synonyms
  • stress

    the more common, everyday term for this linguistic concept; 'stress' is preferred in language teaching contexts.

  • accent

    can mean emphasis on a syllable but more often refers to a way of pronouncing words associated with a region or social group.

  • prominence

    a broader term that includes emphasis plus other features such as intonation and length.

Grammar Patterns

emphasis + falls on + syllable/word

emphasis + is on + syllable/word

Usage Note

In this sense 'emphasis' can be either countable or uncountable. The plural form 'emphases' is occasionally used when comparing the stress patterns of different words or syllables: 'Compare the emphases on the first syllable of "photograph" and "photography".'

Common Mistakes

The emphasis is in the first syllable.
The emphasis is on the first syllable.
the correct preposition is 'on'.

Word family

  • emphasize
    verbB2
  • emphatic
    adjectiveB2
  • emphatically
    adverbC1
  • overemphasize
    verbC1
  • de-emphasize
    verbC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All five words relate to how significant something is, but they focus on different aspects. 'Emphasis' is the deliberate act of highlighting something — the teacher places emphasis on a topic because she wants students to notice it. 'Stress' is nearly interchangeable with 'emphasis' in this sense but often carries an added sense of urgency or pressure ('The report stresses the dangers of inaction'). 'Importance' is a broader, more general quality — something can be important without anyone actively highlighting it. 'Priority' shifts the focus to order or ranking: a priority is what you deal with first, not necessarily what you care about most. 'Prominence' describes the state of being easily seen or known, often due to position rather than choice. For example, a university may place emphasis on research funding (deliberate choice), while climate change rises in prominence on the political agenda (it becomes more noticed naturally).

emphasis ↗stress ↗importance ↗priority ↗prominence ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • with emphasis
  • by way of emphasis

Prepositions

Etymology

GreekLatinFrenchEnglish

Comes from Latin 'emphasis', borrowed from Greek 'ἔμφασις' (emphasis), meaning 'significance' or 'outward appearance'. The Greek word was built from 'ἐν' (en, 'in') and 'φαίνειν' (phainein, 'to show, to make appear'), so its original sense was 'the act of showing or making something visible'. Latin adopted it as a rhetorical term for forcible expression, and English took it over in the 16th century, keeping that rhetorical meaning. The more modern senses — special importance and spoken stress — developed in the 18th and 19th centuries as the word moved out of strict rhetoric into everyday use.