Meaning
Pertaining to words used to convey any kind of social relationship and whose meaning is otherwise either deemphasized or absent.
Etymology
Origin: Ancient Greek
From Ancient Greek φατός (phatós, “spoken”) - from φημί (phēmí, “I say”) - + -ic. Probably formally influenced by emphatic, which predates this term.
Synonyms & Antonyms
NYT Puzzle Appearances
No published puzzle dates on file for this word yet. It is part of the official NYT Spelling Bee word list for 2024, 2026.