Word
accentuate
Phoneticsac·cen·tu·ate
US/ækˈsɛntʃueɪt/
UK/æksˈɛntʃuːˌeɪt/
Definition
v. to make a quality, feeling, or physical feature more noticeable or stronger. You use this when you want to highlight a specific part of something.
v. to make a quality, feature, or physical characteristic more prominent or intense. Often used to describe the enhancement of visual or auditory elements.
Examples
“The bright red dress will accentuate her figure.”
“The lighting in the gallery is designed to accentuate the texture of the oil paintings on the walls.”
“While the new software aims to simplify the interface, its bright color palette may actually accentuate the complexity of the underlying data structures for novice users.”
Examples
simple
“The bright red dress will accentuate her figure.”
contextual
“The lighting in the gallery is designed to accentuate the texture of the oil paintings on the walls.”
complex
“While the new software aims to simplify the interface, its bright color palette may actually accentuate the complexity of the underlying data structures for novice users.”
Real-World Examples
“The men’s nonchalant misogyny and their lack of care towards women is accentuated by Cave through their cringey edgelord behaviour.” “Photograph: Jona Harnischmacher Bastiaan van Vuuren’s initially twinkling score moves from accentuating light intrigue and comedy to building tension.” Etymology
First attested in 1731; borrowed from Medieval Latin accentuātus, perfect passive participle of accentuō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from Latin accentus.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Word family
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/accentuate