tone (down)

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for tone (down)
Verb
  • Its emotional impact is muted and its romance almost purely conceptual, but the fact that Qiaoqiao and Brother Bin’s affection — or even more awareness — survive all of this tumult and transformation is moving unto itself, as is Jia’s dedication to documenting that change.
    David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 9 May 2025
  • Yet their evaluations of CIA excesses are oddly muted, as if botched attempts to murder foreign leaders were just another form of intelligence failure.
    James Santel, The Atlantic, 8 May 2025
Verb
  • These sequences are cut to bits — and not in a music video style — masking the choreography and blunting the emotional impact.
    Courtney Howard, Variety, 8 May 2025
  • Skeptics have countered that dropping routine crash data will blunt an early-warning system and that broad confidentiality requests could wall off crucial context when something goes wrong.
    Deni Ellis Béchard, Scientific American, 2 May 2025
Verb
  • Congressional push-back is inevitable, but the promise of tens of thousands of U.S. jobs can muffle many speeches.
    Guney Yildiz, Forbes.com, 13 May 2025
  • Harvard researched how to use sonar against Nazi submarines and how to muffle noise in long-range bombers, contributing to the development of fiberglass.
    L. RAFAEL REIF, Foreign Affairs, 6 May 2025
Verb
  • My protagonist drinks to dull the sharp edges of motherhood, to quiet the restless ache of unmet expectations, and to grasp at the fleeting illusion of control in a life that often feels anything but.
    Jessica Guerrieri, People.com, 9 May 2025
  • In the last couple episodes, dude seemed to chill out and dull down his sharper edges.
    Nick Caruso, TVLine, 7 May 2025
Verb
  • An estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the proposals would reduce the number of people with health care by at least 7.6 million from the Medicaid changes, and possibly more with other changes to the Affordable Care Act.
    Kevin Freking, Chicago Tribune, 16 May 2025
  • In Sacramento, California, the weather service warned its office would have reduced staffing overnight.
    Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today, 16 May 2025
Verb
  • Research has also shown that being outside in nature can help decrease anxiety, stress, and anger, according to a UC Davis Health blog post.
    Michelle Marchante, Miami Herald, 8 May 2025
  • Load Or Run The Dishwasher Loading the dishwasher every night greatly helps decrease the visual clutter and mess that's in your kitchen.
    Ashlyn Needham, Southern Living, 8 May 2025
Verb
  • They’re applied to damp hair after shampooing and conditioning—and then, crucially, left there.
    Malia Griggs, Glamour, 24 Apr. 2025
  • In a nutshell, the shocks use low damping forces when the vehicle is traveling in a high frequency environment, like on long stretches of smooth road, but use high damping forces when traveling in a low frequency area like a road with a lot of bumps or sharp corners.
    Bryan Rogala, Outside Online, 30 Dec. 2024
Verb
  • Although demand for soundstages outstripped supply a few years ago, production has recently slowed and dampened the current need for them.
    Roger Vincent, Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2025
  • Your reluctance seeps into your writing and dampens your impact.
    Jodie Cook, Forbes.com, 9 May 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Cite this Entry

“Tone (down).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tone%20%28down%29. Accessed 22 May. 2025.

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