1. used of syllables - a tonic syllables carries the main stress in a word • Syn: tonic • Ant: atonic (for: tonic) 2. bearing a stress or accent - an iambic foot consists of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable as in 'delay' • Syn: stressed • Ant: unstressed (for: stressed) • Similar to: emphatic, emphasized, emphasised, masculine