de-emphasize
/diːˈɛmfəsaɪz/
"de-emphasize" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“de-emphasize” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To remove or reduce the emphasis from something; to make something less important; to play down.
Corpus desk
Index EN-de-emphasize · de-emphasize · English
de-emphasize · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 12 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "D" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | de-emphasize |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /diːˈɛmfəsaɪz/ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “de-emphasize” in English
Rare enough to double-check
de-emphasize is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /diːˈɛmfəsaɪz/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To remove or reduce the emphasis from something; to make something less important; to play down.".
No misspelling variants are generated for de-emphasize in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From de- + emphasize. The correct English form is de-emphasize, spelled D-E---E-M-P-H-A-S-I-Z-E.
Definition
- 1To remove or reduce the emphasis from something; to make something less important; to play down.
Etymology
From de- + emphasize.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.