Accentuate - make more noticeable or prominent. Usually used as a formal way of saying "make something bigger". Most commonly used in saying "accentuate the problem". Emphasise - 1. give special importance or value to something. 2. lay stress on (a word or phrase) when speaking. Emphasis is usually used by saying "the emphasis is on ..." or "I'd like to emphasise that...". It is about focusing on a particularly point to make it stand out as being important. In language, accentuate is derived from the word "accent", and accents are where we stress our words, sentences, and vowels. This is usually the speaking "habits" we have regarding how we say our words and sentences. Emphasis is a more conscious effort to make a word or phrase stand out in order to project meaning and aid the understanding of the listener. The emphasis in a sentence may not necessarily therefore affect the accent of the speaker. For example, take the sentence "I like apples" and put the emphasis (or stress) on I, then like, and then apples, in 3 different sentences. Sentence 1 the emphasis is on "I" is to show they like apples, possibly in relation to other people not liking apples. Sentence 2 the emphasis on liking apples may be to some challenge that they don't like apples, and sentence 3 the emphasis on apples may be in relation to choosing among a number of fruit or objects that they may or may not like.

accentuate to make (something) more prominent or noticeable: ACCENT, EMPHASIZE With her hair in tight curls that accentuate her pale beauty, she seems lit from within. emphasis is to stress. to accentuate something you put emphasis on it. Accentuate i would use more with clothing or material things. That dress really accentuates your hips. Meaning it emphasises or brings attention to your hips,