n. 1
A higher-pitched or stronger (louder or longer) articulation of a particular syllable of a word or phrase in order to distinguish it from the others or to emphasize it.
In the word "careful", the accent is placed on the first syllable.
n. 2
Emphasis or importance in general.
At this hotel, the accent is on luxury.
n. 3
A mark used in writing, in order to indicate the place of the spoken stress.
v. 1
To express the accent of vocally; to utter with accent.

Related words

Word family: accentless
Phrases: accent mark accent wall acute accent circumflex accent grave accent primary accent secondary accent tonic accent

Forms

Plural: accents → stresses, tones, emphases, accentuations…
Past participle: accented
e.g. accented → accentuated, emphasized, punctuated…

tone Did you pick up on that strange tone in his voice?
intonation The intonation is monotonous and sleep-inducing.
accentuation The accentuation can be very different from one language to another.
inflection Every sentence he spoke ended in an incredibly annoying upward inflection.

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (idiom³ = 3 syllables).