tone
the quality of a person's voice
How often you will meet it
Rank 578 of 71,295 words measured. It occurs 33,593 times across 155,139 chapters — 0.016% of every word in the library.
It belongs to the first 1,000 words, the band worth learning before any other.
What it means
noun
- the quality of a person's voice also: tone of voice he began in a conversational tonehe spoke in a nervous tone of voice
- (linguistics) a pitch or change in pitch of the voice that serves to distinguish words in tonal languages the Beijing dialect uses four tones
- (music) the distinctive property of a complex sound (a voice or noise or musical sound) also: timbre, timber, quality the timbre of her soprano was rich and lovelythe muffled tones of the broken bell summoned them to meet
- the general atmosphere of a place or situation and the effect that it has on people also: spirit, feel, feeling, flavor, flavour, look the feel of the city excited hima clergyman improved the tone of the meeting
- a quality of a given color that differs slightly from another color also: shade, tint, tincture after several trials he mixed the shade of pink that she wanted
- a notation representing the pitch and duration of a musical sound also: note, musical note the singer held the note too long
tone in real books
Each sentence below was written by a published author and is taken from a different book in our library. Open one to read the passage it came from, with narration.
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At any rate he expressed himself in a tone of absolute certainty.
Other People's Money · Emile Gaboriau · Chapter 1
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Her tone might have been less confident, but for Jim's warning glance.
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch · Alice Caldwell Hegan Rice · Chapter 1
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He spoke in so very melancholy a tone, that it quite melted Gluck's heart.
Famous Stories Every Child Should Know · Hamilton Wright [Editor] Mabie · Chapter 1
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The answer sent a pang through him but the tone suffused him with joy.
Ethan Frome · Edith Wharton · Chapter 1
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In elf-caprice of bitter tone I too would pelt the pelted one: At my shadow I cast a stone.
John Marr and Other Poems · Herman Melville · Chapter 1