emphasis

/ˈɛmfəsɪs/

//ˈɛmfəsɪs// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"emphasis" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“emphasis” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,216. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,216
frequency rank, English
2,246
“E” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Special weight or forcefulness given to something considered important.

Corpus desk

Index EN-emphasis · emphasis · English

emphasis · rank #5,216 · 12 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,216
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,246
  • PHOTO-FINISH emotion

Nearest frequency peer: emotion (-1 rank slots)

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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “emphasis”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “emphasis” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

emphasis vs emphatic
75% similar
emphasis vs emphasize
78% similar
emphasis vs emphasise
89% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for emphasis
PropertyValue
Headwordemphasis
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈɛmfəsɪs/
Letters8
Frequency rank#5,216
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “emphasis”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).emphasislands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “emotion” (#5,215), “ethics” (#5,217), “emerging” (#5,214). Among 2,246 “E” headwords, “emphasis” is #5,216. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around emphasis (IPA /ˈɛmfəsɪs/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #5,216 among 2,246 “E” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for emphasis, with forms such as "emhpasis", "emmphasis", and "empahsis". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "emphatic", "emphasize", "emphasise", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin emphasis, from Ancient Greek ἔμφασις (émphasis, “significance”), from ἐμφαίνω (emphaínō, “to present; to indicate”), from ἐν- (en-, “in”) + φαίνω (phaínō, “to show”). The correct English form is emphasis, spelled E-M-P-H-A-S-I-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Special weight or forcefulness given to something considered important.
  2. 2
    Special attention or prominence given to something.
  3. 3
    Prominence given to a syllable or words, by raising the voice or printing in italic or underlined type.
  4. 4
    The phonetic or phonological feature that distinguishes emphatic consonants from other consonants.
  5. 5
    The use of boldface, italics, or other such formatting to highlight text.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how emphasis appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. He paused for emphasis before saying who had won.
  2. Anglia TV's emphasis is on Norwich and district.

Etymology

From Latin emphasis, from Ancient Greek ἔμφασις (émphasis, “significance”), from ἐμφαίνω (emphaínō, “to present; to indicate”), from ἐν- (en-, “in”) + φαίνω (phaínō, “to show”).

This word in other languages

énfasis(Español)accent(Français)Nachdruck(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • emhpasis
  • emmphasis
  • empahsis
  • emphaiss
  • emphasiss
  • emphassi
  • emphassis
  • emphhasis
  • emphsais
  • empphasis
  • epmhasis
  • mephasis

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of emphasis - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

emhpasis2emmphasis1empahsis2emphaiss2emphasiss1emphassi2emphassis1emphhasis1
Edit distance from "emphasis"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "emphasis"?
"emphasis" is spelled E-M-P-H-A-S-I-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɛmfəsɪs/.
What does "emphasis" mean?
As a noun, "emphasis" means: Special weight or forcefulness given to something considered important.
What words are commonly confused with "emphasis"?
"emphasis" is commonly confused with "emphatic", "emphasize", "emphasise". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "emphasis"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "emphasis" is /ˈɛmfəsɪs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "emphasis"?
From Latin emphasis, from Ancient Greek ἔμφασις (émphasis, “significance”), from ἐμφαίνω (emphaínō, “to present; to indicate”), from ἐν- (en-, “in”) + φαίνω (phaínō, “to show”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "emphasis", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

emerging#5,214graphics#5,224invested#5,228Jennifer#5,230

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

partially12 variantspreserve12 variantsproduces12 variantswondered12 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list