tone

1 of 2

noun

ˈtōn 

1

: vocal or musical sound of a specific quality

spoke in low tones

masculine tones

especially : musical sound with respect to timbre and manner of expression

2

a

: a sound of definite pitch and vibration

b

: whole step

3

: accent or inflection expressive of a mood or emotion

4

: style or manner of expression in speaking or writing

seemed wise to adopt a conciliatory tone

5

: a particular pitch or change of pitch constituting an element in the intonation of a phrase or sentence

high tone

low tone

mid tone

low-rising tone

falling tone

6

: the pitch of a word often used to express differences of meaning

7

a(1)

: color quality or value

(2)

: a tint or shade of color

b

: the color that appreciably modifies a hue or white or black

gray walls of greenish tone

8

: the effect in painting of light and shade together with color

9

a

: normal tension or responsiveness to stimuli

specifically : the state of partial contraction of skeletal muscle at rest : muscular tonus

b

: strength, firmness, or tautness of a part of the body (such as the muscles or skin)

exercising to improve muscle tone

the shape and tone of the arms

c

: 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

10

a

: general character, quality, or trend

a city's upbeat tone

b

: frame of mind : mood

c

: healthy elasticity : resiliency

tone

2 of 2

verb

toned; toning

transitive verb

1

: to soften or reduce in intensity, color, appearance, or sound : mellow

—often used with down

tone down the bright colors

The candidate toned down his harsh rhetoric.

2

: to impart tone to : strengthen

medicine to tone up the system

especially : to increase the firmness, strength, or tautness of (a part of the body)

She lifted weights to tone her arms.

3

: to change the normal silver image of (something, such as a photographic print) into a colored image

4

: to give a particular intonation or inflection to

5

: intone

intransitive verb

1

: to assume a pleasing color quality or tint

2

: to blend or harmonize in color

Synonyms

Noun

• fashion
• locution
• manner
• mode
• phraseology
• style
• vein

Examples of tone in a Sentence

Noun

He replied in a friendly tone.

They spoke in hushed tones.

Don't use that rude tone of voice with me.

the low tones of an organ

The speech had religious tones to it.

The author's tone shows her attitude toward the subject.

The professor's condescending tone irritated some students.

a bright, dark, or light tone of blue

the soft tones of the painting

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

With charming visuals and a celebratory tone, the film offers a gentle allegory on inclusion and self-acceptance. —Jamie Lang, Variety, 9 June 2025

Break The Pattern By Showing Up As Yourself In B2B, when everything starts to sound the same, that's your cue to break the pattern, shift the tone, challenge the format and rethink the angle. —Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 9 June 2025

Verb

For one thing, the 2024 Joe Biden surrogate who loved to roast candidate Donald Trump has toned down his criticism in the face of threats to the funding of everything in this state from the Coastal Commission to the University of California. —Thomas D. Elias, Oc Register, 5 June 2025

New Girl, perhaps Adults’s clearest reference point, took nearly a full network season to tone down Jess’s tweeness and two seasons to heighten Winston as a delightfully weird fan favorite, yet Adults has to try to nail it out of the gate. —Hershal Pandya, Vulture, 4 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English ton, tone "musical sound or note, pitch," borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French ton, tun, toen, borrowed from Latin tonus "strain, tension, musical pitch, note," borrowed from Greek tónos "stretching, tightening, exertion, pitch of the voice, accent in a syllable," nominal derivative from the base of teínein "to stretch, extend" — more at tenant entry 1

Note: As the Oxford English Dictionary, first edition, points out, the phonetic development of tone is peculiar. The normal outcome of medieval French ton in modern English should have been *toun, parallel to sound, noun. If, on the other hand, the vowel of ton had merged with Middle English long close o, the result should have been *toon; toone (glossed as Latin tonus) is in fact rhymed with boone and moone in the rhyming dictionary of Peter Levins (Manipulus Vocabulorum, 1570). The Oxford editors are probably correct in suggesting that the present form of the word is due to repeated reshaping under the influence of the Latin source. Cf. tune entry 1.

Verb

derivative of tone entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1674, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 5

Phrases Containing tone

• dialling tone
• dial tone
• earth tone
• engaged tone
• jewel tone
• leading tone
• quarter tone
• set the tone
• tone color
• tone-deaf
• tone in with (something)
• tone language
• tone of voice
• tone poem
• tone row
• tone-setter
• touch-tone
• twelve-tone
• twelve-tone row
• two-tone

Rhymes for tone

• blown
• clone
• cone
• crone
• drone
• flown
• groan
• grown
• hone
• joan
• known
• loan

Kids Definition

tone

1 of 2 noun

ˈtōn 

1

a

: a musical sound having a definite pitch : the sound of a note

b

: whole step

2

: accent or pitch of the voice especially when used to express an emotion or a change in meaning

spoke in a sharp tone

3

: style or manner of expression

reply in a friendly tone

the author's tone shows his or her attitude toward the subject

4

a

: a shade of color

decorated in soft tones

b

: a color that changes another

gray with a blue tone

5

a

: a healthy state of the body or any of its parts

b

: normal tension or ability to respond to stimuli

especially : the state of normal tension of a muscle in which it is partly contracted

6

: general character or quality

the city's upbeat tone

tone

2 of 2 verb

toned; toning

1

: to give tone to : strengthen

vitamins to tone up the system

2

: to soften in color, appearance, or sound

—often used with down

Etymology

Noun

Middle English tone "a musical sound, a sound from the voice," from Latin tonus "tension, tone, pitch," from Greek tonos "act of stretching, tension, tone, pitch"; so called because the pitch of the tone of a stringed musical instrument is related to how tightly the strings are stretched

Medical Definition

tone

1 of 2 noun

ˈtōn 

1

: a sound of definite pitch and vibration

2

a

: 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

b

: normal tension or responsiveness to stimuli

specifically : tonus sense 2

tone

2 of 2 transitive verb

toned; toning

: to impart tone to

tone the muscles

Biographical Definition

Tone

biographical name

ˈtōn 

(Theobald) Wolfe 1763–1798 Irish revolutionary