emphatic

em·phat·ic

adjective \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

Examples of EMPHATIC

1. They were emphatic about their political differences.
2. <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

Antonyms

nonassertive, nonemphatic, unemphatic

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