All words

underscore

Meaning

to draw attention to something by highlighting it, making it more apparent, or giving it special prominence.

Examples by difficulty

Basic: Simple, everyday vocabulary — the easiest to read.

He slammed his fist on the table, trying to underscore the seriousness of his plea. His voice cracked with emotion as he looked around, hoping they finally understood how dire the situation truly was.

The exhausted botanist pointed at the wilting leaf. "This discoloration," he said, his voice raw, "it does not underscore a simple lack of water. It's something more." He leaned closer, his shadow falling over the diseased surface, making the strange pattern unavoidable.

The old man carefully arranged the chipped ceramic shards, each piece a faded echo of their shared past. He placed the tiny, painted blue bird fragment directly in the center of the table, wanting to underscore the fragility of memory and the love they once held.

The clown’s bright red nose did much to underscore his silly, goofy personality, making everyone giggle. He wobbled on his giant shoes, his baggy pants flapping, to further underscore the fact that he was a walking joke, a delightful disaster.

Brenda's interpretive dance routine to "The Hokey Pokey" was... a lot. When she flung her right leg out with unexpected ferocity, the audience gasped, which really seemed to underscore her commitment to dramatic flair. Every awkward shimmy, every slightly-too-long pause, they all served to underscore the sheer, unadulterated Brenda-ness of it all.

Normal: Standard, everyday language.

She slammed her hand on the table, a sharp crack that made everyone jump. Her voice, usually soft, rose to a commanding pitch. "This is the crucial point," she declared, leaning forward. "We need to underscore the urgency of this deadline to ensure success."

The worn, faded photograph was the only clue. He traced the cracked surface, trying to find some detail, anything that could underscore the urgency of their situation. He needed them to see what he saw, to understand the danger lurking just beyond the frame.

The lead investigator tapped the screen, her finger tracing the faint residue left on the retrieved data chip. "See this pattern here?" she asked the junior tech. "It doesn't match standard operating procedure. This is what we need to underscore, the anomaly that points to foul play."

To underscore the sheer absurdity of finding a single sock after a marathon laundry session, I strategically placed a bright yellow rubber duck on top of the washing machine. This vibrant sentinel surely made the mystery of the missing sock all the more apparent, a comical monument to domestic chaos.

The poodle's insistence on wearing a tiny sombrero to the competitive cheese-rolling competition really served to underscore its avant-garde approach to dairy-based sports. Its determined waddle, punctuated by the occasional defiant yip, highlighted its commitment to proving that fluffy can indeed conquer gravity.

Advanced: Richer vocabulary that stretches an upper-level reader.

The professor's pointed silence aimed to underscore the critical nature of the students' incomplete assignments. His intense gaze and the deliberate pause in his lecture made it abundantly clear that this was a matter demanding their immediate and serious attention, a point he wanted them to truly grasp.

The scientist adjusted the microscope, aiming to underscore the subtle genetic anomaly. Her brow furrowed, emphasizing the delicate nature of the cellular structure. This finding would definitely underscore the urgent need for further funding.

The old timer's weathered hands, gnarled from decades of mending nets, would underscore the importance of the tide's shift with a slow, deliberate tap on the worn planks of the dock. Every crease on his face seemed to emphasize the knowledge he held, a silent testament to seasons weathered and storms endured.

The chef meticulously arranged the edible glitter on the swan-shaped Jell-O, hoping to underscore its magnificent wobbliness. He felt this ostentatious flourish was crucial to underscore the sheer, unadulterated joy of gelatinous poultry. The guests, however, were more preoccupied with the free breadsticks.

The renowned sock puppet troupe, "The Unraveling Loafers," chose to underscore their avant-garde interpretation of existential angst by staging their entire performance entirely underwater. Their deliberate aquatic milieu served to highlight the inherent absurdity of terrestrial concerns, making the silent, gurgling pronouncements of their felt protagonists undeniably more apparent to the bewildered audience observing through a murky tank.

Challenging: Rare, high-register vocabulary for serious word lovers.

The professor's impassioned lecture seemed to underscore the urgent need for policy reform. His gestures emphatically pointed to the statistics, his voice resonating with the gravity of the situation, compelling every student to grasp the dire implications of inaction.

The grizzled prospector's weathered hands, gnarled from a lifetime of arduous toil, seemed to underscore the immense hardship etched into the parched landscape. He gestured with a trembling digit, a silent, poignant emphasis on the meager trickle of water that represented their sole hope against the relentless desert.

The hushed awe of the assembled scholars began to solidify, the murmurs giving way to a profound silence as the lead archaeologist, gesturing toward the intricate celestial map etched into the obsidian tablet, spoke with quiet intensity. Her deliberate pauses and focused gaze served to underscore the artifact's unparalleled significance, each word carefully chosen to illuminate its epoch-defining implications for their understanding of pre-diluvian chronometry.

The comedian’s peculiar cadence, a veritable symphony of staccato bursts and languid pauses, served to underscore his every hyperbolic pronouncement. He’d meticulously underscore the absurdity of airline peanuts by enunciating "peanuts" with the gravitas usually reserved for declaring war, thereby making their inanity utterly, spectacularly manifest.

The flamboyant peacock, resplendent in its cerulean plumage, would often underscore its preening prowess by unfurling its iridescent train with an ostentatious flourish, demanding immediate and unequivocal admiration from any passing mallard, lest their minuscule avian psyches fail to grasp the sheer magnificence on display.

Difficulty

Normal — Everyday words worth reinforcing.

Appears in

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