as in harmonic
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Recent Examples of tonal
Alexiades, the dermatologist, told CNN that much of the tonal shift around skincare boils down to a rebrand.
—
Ramishah Maruf, CNN Money, 7 June 2026
From there, give or take the odd tonal fillip in the script, everything proceeds according to the romcom playbook — third-act roadblocks, reconciliations and all.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 5 June 2026
The light pink is soft and airy, while the burgundy is rich and tonal.
—Katherine J Igoe, InStyle, 5 June 2026
This tension, the push and pull between wanting to belong to a broadly popular, more powerful group and wanting to stand at a distance from it — to critique, and in the process, to conquer it — is reflected in the tonal instability of much of Kaling’s work.
—Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 3 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for tonal
Ramishah Maruf, CNN Money, 7 June 2026
From there, give or take the odd tonal fillip in the script, everything proceeds according to the romcom playbook — third-act roadblocks, reconciliations and all.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 5 June 2026
The light pink is soft and airy, while the burgundy is rich and tonal.
—Katherine J Igoe, InStyle, 5 June 2026
This tension, the push and pull between wanting to belong to a broadly popular, more powerful group and wanting to stand at a distance from it — to critique, and in the process, to conquer it — is reflected in the tonal instability of much of Kaling’s work.
—Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 3 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for tonal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tonal
Adjective
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In this case, the two notes’ harmonic overtones overlap, and most people like listening to the sound as a result.—
Adam Kovac,
Scientific American,
10 June 2026
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Some of the sounds are almost like Jackson Pollock clouds or dots or points that go through harmonic filters and microtonal processing.—
Andy Battaglia,
ARTnews.com,
8 June 2026
Adjective
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The orchestral contributions from Clare Fischer transformed Black music into something deeply emotive.—
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson,
VIBE.com,
7 June 2026
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The orchestra is huge, the musical invention, irresistible, and the sheer scale of orchestral writing is downright heroic.—
Mark Swed,
Los Angeles Times,
3 June 2026
Adjective
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The soft, rhythmic sound of small waves striking the base of the pillars echoed around them.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 June 2026
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The European style, which Ezratty offers, tends to be gentler and more rhythmic, with the practitioner following the lymphatic chain through the face and neck.—
Lauren Finney Harden,
AJC.com,
10 June 2026
Adjective
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Probably because at the time many of the time signatures and chordal progressions that Miles used were over the head of a young guitar player still functioning in the blues and folk idioms.—
Steve Baltin,
Los Angeles Times,
25 May 2026
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Hudson buttressed Al Kooper’s original organ part into a chordal fortress, part of an incendiary performance that surges to peak after peak.—
Jon Pareles,
New York Times,
24 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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This polyphonic novel already has a chorus, thanks to its humdinger cast of ensemble characters.—
Brittany Allen,
Literary Hub,
10 June 2026
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All operatic singing, especially the polyphonic (multipart) style known as bel canto, requires tremendous breath control and vocal skill.—
René Ostberg,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
26 May 2026
Adjective
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My introduction to homophonic translation came from my former teacher, Mónica de la Torre.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
9 Jan. 2026
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How does this make any sense except as a very stupid, clumsy, idiotic no good way to give us a homophonic bridge to Gandalf.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes,
3 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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Halberstam called Heat games on radio from 1992 to 1998, displaying a lyrical style and a rich command of the English language.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
2 June 2026
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The lyrical direction of this record intrigued me.—
Hanif Abdurraqib,
New Yorker,
31 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tonal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tonal. Accessed 14 Jun. 2026.
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