emphatic
/ɛmˈfætɪk/adjective, noun
emphatic is spelled E-M-P-H-A-T-I-C: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 25,751st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, emphatic means “Characterized by emphasis; forceful” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in emphatic?
| Letters | 8: E-M-P-H-A-T-I-C |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.2 times per million words; the 25,751st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is emphatic?
Emphatic appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 25,751st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce emphatic?
- /ɛmˈfætɪk/
- /ɪm-/
- /əmˈfætək/
Emphatic has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-emphatic.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with emphatic?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as emphatic.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: empathic.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of emphatic
- more emphatic comparative
- most emphatic superlative
- emphatics plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does emphatic mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Characterized by emphasis; forceful.
- 2
Stated with conviction.
He gave me an emphatic no when I asked him out.
- 3
Belonging to a set of English tense forms comprising the auxiliary verb do plus an infinitive without to.
- 4
Relating to an emphatic pronoun, or a noun with an emphatic suffix attached to it.
In Irish, the emphatic form of "mé" is "mise".
- 5
Phrayngealized consonants in Arabic, Hebrew, other Northwest Semitic languages, and Berber languages.
- 6
Ejective consonants in Ge'ez, Amharic, other Ethiopic Semitic languages, Chadic and Cushitic languages.
- 7
Referring to the above consonants as well as /ħ/ and /ʕ/ (these being seen as emphatic equivalents of /h/ and /ʔ/).
noun
- 1
An emphatic consonant.
- 2
A word or phrase adding emphasis, such as a lot or really.
- 3
A distinct pronoun form or noun suffix found in certain languages (e.g. Goidelic languages) that is used to place emphasis on the noun or pronoun in order to create contrast with the rest of the sentence.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Emphatic in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | emphatique |
| Portuguese | enfático |
| Spanish | enfático , rotundo, tajante |
| German | emphatisch |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does emphatic come from?
From Ancient Greek ἐμφατικός (emphatikós, “emphatic”), from ἐμφαίνω (emphaínō, “I show, present”), from ἐν (en, “in”) + φαίνω (phaínō, “I shine, show”); related to ἔμφασις (émphasis) and English emphasis.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).