Did you know?
When you accentuate something you put an “accent,” or emphasis, on it. There’s no need to stress out if you don’t know the word’s history, though; its journey into the English language was very straightforward. It comes from Latin accentus, meaning “accent” (which itself comes in part from cantus, meaning “song”), and since the early 18th century, its meanings haven’t changed much. The word was initially used as a synonym of the verb accent to mean “to pronounce with greater stress or force,” which is a small leap from today’s meaning of “to make something more noticeable; to emphasize.” One excellent way to remember not only how to pronounce accentuate but also its etymological connection to song is the classic (and helpfully titled) tune “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive,” by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer, which has been performed by such luminaries as Dinah Washington, Sam Cooke, and Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters.
Examples of accentuate in a Sentence
Julia Teti, Footwear News, 4 June 2026
But all that meticulousness only accentuates the oddities.
—Justin Davidson, Curbed, 4 June 2026
What the Luce accentuates is how so many aspects of the consumer experience have gone this way.
—Andrew P. Collins, The Drive, 3 June 2026
To accentuate those spy-fi credentials, the show even featured — in a lawsuit waiting to happen — a character called James (okay, Jimmy) Bond.
—Richard Edwards, Space.com, 1 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for accentuate
Cite this Entry
“Accentuate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/accentuate. Accessed 11 Jun. 2026.
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accentuate
verb
