What does "tone" mean?
A specific pitch.
Tone
/toʊn/ name, noun, pron, verb, slang
name, noun, pron, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A specific pitch.
- Grammar: tone is listed as name, noun, pron, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: note, accent, accidental, achromatism.
- Useful contrasts: distort, hostility, intensify.
- Usage evidence: His stern tone and loud voice belied his inner sensitivity and caring nature.
How to use "tone"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "tone" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "tone" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "tone" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "tone" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "tone" is acting as name, noun, pron, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "note" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "tone", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A specific pitch.
- 2 a quality of a given color that differs slightly from another color wordnet
- 3 (in the diatonic scale) An interval of a major second.
- 4 (linguistics) a pitch or change in pitch of the voice that serves to distinguish words in tonal languages wordnet
- 5 (in a Gregorian chant) A recitational melody.
Show 21 more definitions
- 6 (music) the distinctive property of a complex sound (a voice or noise or musical sound) wordnet
- 7 The character of a sound, especially the timbre of an instrument or voice.
- 8 the quality of something (an act or a piece of writing) that reveals the attitudes and presuppositions of the author wordnet
- 9 The pitch of a word's sound that distinguishes a difference in meaning, as for example in Chinese.
- 10 a steady sound without overtones wordnet
- 11 A whining style of speaking; a kind of mournful or artificial strain of voice; an affected speaking with a measured rhythm and a regular rise and fall of the voice. dated
"Children often read with a tone."
- 12 a musical interval of two semitones wordnet
- 13 The manner in which speech or writing is expressed, especially the aspects of diction (word choice), connotation, emotiveness, and register.
"Their tone was dissatisfied, almost menacing."
- 14 a notation representing the pitch and duration of a musical sound wordnet
- 15 State of mind; temper; mood. obsolete
"c. 1714 (undated), Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, letter to Alexander Pope The strange situation I am in and the melancholy state of public affairs, […] drag the mind down […] from a philosophical tone or temper, to the drudgery of private and public business."
- 16 the quality of a person's voice wordnet
- 17 The shade or quality of a colour.
"We make crude visual distinctions and effectively meaningless categorizations based on average skin tones, such as black or white."
- 18 the general atmosphere of a place or situation and the effect that it has on people wordnet
- 19 The favourable effect of a picture produced by the combination of light and shade, or of colours.
"This picture has tone."
- 20 the elastic tension of living muscles, arteries, etc. that facilitate response to stimuli wordnet
- 21 The definition and firmness of a muscle or organ; see also: tonus.
- 22 The state of a living body or of any of its organs or parts in which the functions are healthy and performed with due vigor.
- 23 Normal tension or responsiveness to stimuli.
- 24 a gun slang
"But nigga don't step wrong, cuz 8ball keep a tone"
- 25 The general character, atmosphere, mood, or vibe (of a situation, place, etc.). figuratively
"Her rousing speech gave an upbeat tone to the rest of the evening."
- 26 The quality of being respectable or admirable. figuratively
""I am going to raise the tone of the business. That's wot I want you for. To raise the tone of the business.""
Verb
- 1 to give a particular tone to transitive
- 2 give a healthy elasticity to wordnet
- 3 to change the colour of transitive
- 4 change to a color image wordnet
- 5 to make (something) firmer transitive
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 change the color or tone of wordnet
- 7 to utter with an affected tone. transitive
- 8 vary the pitch of one's speech wordnet
- 9 utter monotonously and repetitively and rhythmically wordnet
Pronoun
- 1 the one (of two) dialectal
Proper Noun
- 1 A male given name, a short form of Anthony/Antony
- 2 A river in Somerset, England, which flows into the River Parrett.
Example
"His stern tone and loud voice belied his inner sensitivity and caring nature."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "tone"?
Common synonyms include: note, accent, accidental, achromatism, act, action.
How do you use "tone" in a sentence?
His stern tone and loud voice belied his inner sensitivity and caring nature.
How do you pronounce "tone"?
Pronounced /toʊn/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English ton, tone, from Latin tonus (“sound, tone”) (possibly through Old French ton), from Ancient Greek τόνος (tónos, “strain, tension, pitch”), from τείνω (teínō, “I stretch”). Doublet of tune, ton, tonos, and tonus.
Etymology 2
From Middle English tone, ton, toon, from the incorrect division of thet one (“the/that one”). Compare Scots tane in the tane; see also tother.
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