Punctuate

//ˈpʰʌŋktjuːeɪt// adj, verb

adj, verb ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To add punctuation to. transitive

    "That occurrence of "its" needs to be punctuated as "it's"."

  2. 2
    insert punctuation marks into wordnet
  3. 3
    To add or to interrupt at regular intervals. transitive

    "My father punctuated his tirade with thumps on the desk."

  4. 4
    interrupt periodically wordnet
  5. 5
    To emphasize; to stress. transitive
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  1. 6
    to stress, single out as important wordnet
Adjective
  1. 1
    Point-like; consisting of or marked with one or more points.

    "[…] with a punctuate wound of entrance and a small wound of exit, may very properly be treated with a dry dressing and not disturbed, and in a large proportion of the cases there will be little or no tissue reaction that will require[…]"

Synonyms

All synonyms
stressaccentaccentaccentuateaccentuateanalyze

Example

More examples

"Please don't punctuate your sentences with loud farts."

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin pūnctuātus, perfect passive participle of pūnctuō (“to mark with points”), from Medieval Latin pūnctus (“a point, dot”), from pungō (“to prick, punch”); see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix). Doublet of punch.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.