Definition:
A word that emphasizes another word or phrase. Intensifying adjectives modify nouns; intensifying adverbs commonly modify verbs, gradable adjectives, and other adverbs. Contrast with downtoner. See also:
Etymology:
From the Latin, "stretch, intend"Examples and Observations:
- "The woodwind has a slightly greater scope than the violin."
(John Philip Sousa) - "I'm Jewish, but I'm totally not."
(Sarah Silverman) - "Rather, very, little, pretty--these are the leeches that infest the pond of prose, sucking the blood of words. The constant use of the adjective little (except to indicate size) is particularly debilitating; we should all try to do a little better, we should all be very watchful of this rule, for it is a rather important one and we are pretty sure to violate it now and then."
(William Strunk, Jr., and E.B. White, The Elements of Style. 1972) - "To some degree, an intensifier acts as a signal: it announces that the word following it is worn out, and that it should be understood as inadequate. For example, in the phrase an utterly beautiful night, the author is saying, 'Look, I mean something beyond beautiful, even if I don't have the precise word word; try to imagine it.'"
(Arthur Plotnik, Spunk & Bite. Random House, 2005) - "A really good detective never gets married."
(Raymond Chandler) - "The sheer number of [intensifiers], all with more or less the same meaning, is significant. If you haven't made your case, you have to pound the adverbial drums, the same way the boy in the story had to insist that this time, there really, really, really was a wolf."
(Ben Yagoda, When You Catch an Adjective, Kill It, Broadway Books, 2007) - "The women I had as very close friends were very independent women, very progressive. They're very sensitive about social change."
(Toni Morrison)
Pronunciation: in-TEN-si-fi-er
Also Known As: qualifiers, amplifiers
