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accentuare

to accentuate

verb ah-chen-too-AH-reh Less Common
Communication Speech

Also means

to emphasize

Usage Note

Accentuare means to make something more pronounced or to stress it. It is often used reflexively — 'accentuarsi' — to describe a phenomenon that intensifies on its own: 'il divario si è accentuato' (the gap has widened/accentuated). It uses the auxiliary essere in the reflexive form and avere in the transitive form. Do not confuse with accentare (to add a written accent mark to a word).

Examples

"La crisi ha accentuato le disuguaglianze sociali."

Natural Translation

The crisis has accentuated social inequalities.

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