Accentuated means made more noticeable or prominent, often by emphasizing or stressing certain features, ideas, or details. It can also describe something that has been highlighted or intensified in appearance or expression. The term implies a deliberate or intensified emphasis, rather than a subtle presence.
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- You may flatten the /æ/ in the first syllable or substitute /eɪ/ for /eɪ/ in the second vowel; keep the short a as in cat and avoid yod coalescence with /tj/. - The /tj/ consonant cluster is often pronounced as /t/ or /j/; practice the glide: touch the tongue to the alveolar ridge for /t/ and release into the /j/ for /tj/. - The final -ed can be pronounced as /ɪd/ or /d/ in casual speech; prefer /ɪd/ in careful speech to avoid a clipped ending. Practice by isolating the final syllable: /-tɪd/ and then connect to previous syllables.
"The architect accentuated the building’s vertical lines to create a stronger silhouette."
"Her facial expressions accentuated his point, making the argument hard to ignore."
"The designer accentuated the color contrast to draw attention to the artwork."
"In the performance, the actor’s gestures were accentuated to convey emotion more clearly."
The word accentuated derives from the Latin accentuatus, past participle of accēntuāre, meaning to add an accent or to emphasize. Accēntuāre comes from accentus, meaning a leaning toward or an intonation, and from ad- (toward) plus cantus (singing). In English, accent is the root concept of pronunciation emphasis, and -uated is a suffix forming adjectives or past participles—here indicating that the action has been completed or made so. The first known uses appear in the 17th–18th centuries as Latin-influenced scholarly and literary discourse, expanding in the 19th century during rhetorical and critical writing to denote heightened emphasis or prominence. Over time, the sense broadened from specifically vocal emphasis to any feature that stands out or is deliberately intensified in appearance or behavior, such as a color, gesture, or style that is accentuated. In modern usage, accentuated often carries a slightly formal or technical tone, frequently found in design, linguistics, medicine, or critical commentary, where the author intends to signal intentional emphasis or amplification of a trait or detail.
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Words that rhyme with "accentuated"
-ted sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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You pronounce it ac-CEN-tu-a-ted with primary stress on the second syllable: /ˈæk.sɛn.tjʊˌeɪ.tɪd/ in US/UK variances; US often reduces the -ed cluster slightly, while careful pronunciation keeps the -ed as a separate /ɪd/ ending in careful diction. Start with /ˈæk/ (short a as in cat), then /sɛn/ (accented like send without d), then /tjʊ/ or /tjə/ depending on accent, /eɪ/ before /tɪd/. Practice slowly: /ˈæk.sɛnˌtjueɪtɪd/ before smoothing to the natural rhythm.
Common mistakes include misplacing the primary stress (accent on the first syllable) and blending the /tj/ cluster into a single sound (e.g., /tj/ becomes /t/ or /j/). Another frequent error is treating -ed as a simple /d/ or /t/ instead of the final /ɪd/ or /ɪd/ in careful speech. To correct: emphasize the second syllable with a crisp /ɛn/; articulate the /tj/ as a light, separate consonant blend, and finalize with /ɪd/ in careful speech or a reduced /t/ in quick, casual speech.
In US English, you’ll hear /ˈæk.sɛn.tjʊˌeɪ.tɪd/ with a flutter on the /tj/ and a clear /ɪd/ ending in careful speech. UK English often leans toward /ˈæk.sɛn.tjuːˌeɪ.tɪd/ or /ˈæk.sɛn.tjʊˌeɪ.tɪd/, with slightly less rhotacism and a glided /juː/ for /tjʊ/. Australian tends to vocalize the /tj/ more openly as /tjʊ/ or /tjuː/ and may reduce the final syllable slightly, as in /ˈæk.sɛn.tjəˌeɪ.tɪd/. Consistent across varieties is the stressed segunda syllable and the final -ed as /ɪd/ in careful speech.
The difficulty comes from the consonant cluster /tj/ after /sen/ and the sequence of adding an affix while maintaining clear syllable boundaries. The /tj/ blend requires precise tongue positioning: the tongue tip rises to create /t/ and quickly releases into /j/ or /tj/; the following /uː/ or /juː/ can shift in US vs UK accents. Finally, the /eɪ/ diphthong before the final /tɪd/ demands careful jaw and lip control to avoid a hurried or merged ending.
Does accentuated retain a rhotic or non-rhotic quality across contexts? In most dialects, the /r/ is not pronounced, so there’s no rhoticity on the word itself; however, in some careful speech or in American hyper-correct contexts you might hear a subtle /ɹ/ if a linking phoneme precedes it. The main challenge remains keeping the /tj/ blend distinct and the final /ɪd/ clear, regardless of rhotic expectations.
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