intensifier

English

Etymology

intensify +‎ -er; from the most common use of such terms, to intensify an adjective.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

intensifier (plural intensifiers)

1. That which intensifies.
2. (linguistics) A word or particle that heightens the intensity of meaning of a term.

   Synonym: expletive

   Antonym: downtoner

3. (photography) A chemical agent used to intensify the lights or shadows of a photograph.

Derived terms

• self-intensifier

 

Translations

that which intensifies

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: vahvistin (fi)
• Portuguese: please add this translation if you can

a word or particle that heightens the intensity of meaning of a term

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: intensifikaattori
• German: Intensitätspartikel (de), Steigerungspartikel (de)
• Hungarian: fokozószó (hu), nyomatékosítószó (hu), nyomatékosító, nyomósítószó, nyomósító szó
• Portuguese: please add this translation if you can

a chemical agent used to intensify the lights or shadows of a photograph

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: vahvistin (fi), valonvahvistin (lights), korjain
• Portuguese: please add this translation if you can

See also

• Category:English intensifiers

References

• Eugene E. Loos [et al.], editors (2003), “intensifier”, in Glossary of Linguistic Terms, Dallas, Tex.: SIL International.
• “intensifier”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

French

Etymology

From intense +‎ -ifier.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fje/

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

intensifier

1. to intensify

Conjugation

Conjugation of intensifier (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	intensifier
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	intensifiant /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fjɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		intensifié /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fje/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	intensifie /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fi/	intensifies /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fi/	intensifie /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fi/	intensifions /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fjɔ̃/	intensifiez /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fje/	intensifient /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fi/
	imperfect	intensifiais /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fjɛ/	intensifiais /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fjɛ/	intensifiait /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fjɛ/	intensifiions /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fi.jɔ̃/	intensifiiez /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fi.je/	intensifiaient /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fjɛ/
	past historic2	intensifiai /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fje/	intensifias /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fja/	intensifia /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fja/	intensifiâmes /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fjam/	intensifiâtes /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fjat/	intensifièrent /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fjɛʁ/
	future	intensifierai /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fi.ʁe/	intensifieras /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fi.ʁa/	intensifiera /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fi.ʁa/	intensifierons /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fi.ʁɔ̃/	intensifierez /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fi.ʁe/	intensifieront /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fi.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	intensifierais /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fi.ʁɛ/	intensifierais /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fi.ʁɛ/	intensifierait /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fi.ʁɛ/	intensifierions /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fi.ʁjɔ̃/	intensifieriez /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fi.ʁje/	intensifieraient /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fi.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	intensifie /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fi/	intensifies /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fi/	intensifie /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fi/	intensifiions /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fi.jɔ̃/	intensifiiez /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fi.je/	intensifient /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fi/
	imperfect2	intensifiasse /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fjas/	intensifiasses /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fjas/	intensifiât /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fja/	intensifiassions /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fja.sjɔ̃/	intensifiassiez /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fja.sje/	intensifiassent /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fjas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	intensifie /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fi/	—	intensifions /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fjɔ̃/	intensifiez /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fje/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Related terms

• intense
• intensif
• intensification
• intensité

Further reading

• “intensifier”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• Finistérien, finistérien, résinifient