Meaning & use
unemphatic
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Lacking force or strong emphasis in the way something is said, written or done.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after be: an unemphatic reply, or her answer was unemphatic.
Patterns
- an unemphatic manner
- be unemphatic about something
Her unemphatic reply made it hard to tell whether she agreed.
The president's unemphatic speech failed to rouse the crowd.
He gave an unemphatic shrug and walked on.
adjectivebefore a nountechnical
In linguistics, not given special stress, so that a syllable or word is spoken lightly.
Grammar: Used mostly before nouns such as syllable or form.
The unemphatic form of the word is shorter in rapid speech.
In this sentence, the unemphatic syllable is almost silent.
Common combinations
- unemphatic tone
- She spoke in an unemphatic tone that gave nothing away.
- unemphatic reply
- His unemphatic reply left the room unsure.
- an unemphatic victory
- It was an unemphatic victory for the home side.
- remarkably unemphatic
- The review was remarkably unemphatic, given the film's fame.
Synonyms and how they differ
- muted
- This suggests that something has been toned down on purpose, while unemphatic simply lacks stress.
- weak
- This is a general criticism, while unemphatic focuses on a lack of force in how something is expressed.
- understated
- This often implies a clever, controlled restraint and sounds more positive than unemphatic.
- halfhearted
- This is about lack of effort or enthusiasm, rather than the manner of speaking.
Opposites
Word family
- emphatic adjective
- expressed with force or clear certainty
- emphatically adverb
- in a forceful way
- emphasis noun
- special importance or stress
- emphasize verb
- to give special importance to
Commonly confused: unemphatic or unenthusiastic?
unemphatic vs unenthusiastic
Unenthusiastic describes a lack of interest or excitement, while unemphatic describes a lack of force in expression.
Practice
The lawyer's closing remarks were so ___ that the jury hardly seemed to notice the key point.
Choose one answer.
Unemphatic means without force, which explains why the jury missed the point. Emphatic is the opposite, and unenthusiastic is about interest, not delivery.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “unemphatic”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.