de-emphasis

or de·em·pha·sis

[ dee-em-fuh-sis ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

, plural de-em·pha·ses [dee-, em, -f, uh, -seez].

a reduction in emphasis:
There has been de-emphasis on athletic activities at the school.
the act or process of de-emphasizing.
Electronics. a process of reducing the relative amplitude of certain frequencies in a signal that have been exaggerated by preemphasis, restoring the signal to its original form.

First recorded in 1935–40; de- + emphasis

Browse