accentuate

verb

1 his jacket unfortunately accentuated his paunch:

focus attention on, bring/call/draw attention to, point up, underline, underscore, accent, highlight, spotlight, foreground, feature, give prominence to, make more prominent, make more noticeable, play up, bring to the fore, heighten, stress, emphasize, put/lay emphasis on.

▷antonyms mask, divert attention from.

2 that characteristic thump which accentuates the first beat of the bar:

emphasize, stress, put/lay/place the stress on, put/lay/place the emphasis on, give emphasis to, put the force on, accent.