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📕 rednote ID(小红书号)：3881567312

Tone Meaning: Examples, Usage, and Tips (3 meaning)

Meaning 1：manner of speaking (tone)

tone 🔊

/toʊn/

The feeling or attitude shown in the way someone speaks.

Tone in speech: person speaking with contrasting emotions illustrated

manner of speaking 🔊

➕

/ˈmænər əv ˈspiːkɪŋ/

The emotional quality or attitude conveyed by a speaker's voice, which can indicate mood, intention, or feeling.

📁 Category：Language Evolution 🔖 Level：intermediate

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Root Explanation

From Greek 'tonos' (tension, pitch), via Latin 'tonus'.

💡 Mnemonic

Tone is the tune of your voice or the tune of a color.

📖 Example

Her friendly tone immediately made the new student feel welcome. 🔊 Her friendly tone immediately made the new student feel welcome.

🔗 Collocations

in a calm tone – speaking calmly

a harsh tone – an unpleasant, rough way of speaking

set the tone – establish the general mood or style

🔄 Synonyms

manner (n.) – a way of speaking or behaving

attitude (n.) – a settled way of thinking or feeling reflected in speech

inflection (n.) – change in pitch or tone of voice

🚫 Antonyms

monotone (n.) – a single unvaried tone of voice

🌱 Derivatives

tonal (adj.) – relating to tone

toneless (adj.) – without tone or expression

tonality (n.) – the quality of a musical tone or overall sound

📖 Cultural Story

The word 'tone' originates from the Greek 'tonos', meaning 'a stretching' or 'tension', and later used for the pitch of a stretched string. In English, it evolved to cover voice quality, musical pitch, and color shade.

Meaning 2：musical sound quality (tone)

tone 🔊

/toʊn/

The quality of a sound, especially a musical sound, regarding its pitch and character.

Tone in music: hand plucking guitar string showing sound quality

musical sound quality 🔊

➕

/ˈmjuːzɪkl saʊnd ˈkwɑːlɪti/

The distinctive quality of a sound, particularly in music, determined by its pitch, duration, and timbre.

📁 Category：Entertainment & Sports 🔖 Level：intermediate

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Example

This guitar has a beautiful, warm tone that's perfect for folk music. 🔊 This guitar has a beautiful, warm tone that's perfect for folk music.

🔗 Collocations

rich tone – full and pleasant sound quality

tone color – the characteristic quality of a musical instrument's sound

tone deaf – unable to distinguish musical pitches

🔄 Synonyms

timbre (n.) – the quality of a musical sound distinct from its pitch and intensity

pitch (n.) – the highness or lowness of a sound

sonority (n.) – the quality of being sonorous; resonance

🚫 Antonyms

noise (n.) – unwanted or unpleasant sound

🌱 Derivatives

tonic (n.) – the first note of a musical scale

Meaning 3：color shade (tone)

tone 🔊

/toʊn/

The general quality of a color, a photograph, or a design; a shade of color.

Tone in color: mixing blue and white paint on palette

color shade 🔊

➕

/ˈkʌlər ʃeɪd/

A particular shade or variation of a color, often defined by its lightness, darkness, or purity.

📁 Category：Buildings & Places 🔖 Level：intermediate

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Example

We chose soft blue and green tones for the bedroom to create a relaxing atmosphere. 🔊 We chose soft blue and green tones for the bedroom to create a relaxing atmosphere.

🔗 Collocations

earth tones – colors inspired by natural earth like brown, ochre, olive

cool tones – colors with blue or green undertones

tone down – make something less intense or bright

🔄 Synonyms

shade (n.) – a variety of a color, especially one that is darker

hue (n.) – the attribute of color that enables an object to be classified as red, blue, etc.

tinge (n.) – a slight trace of a color

🚫 Antonyms

achromatic (adj.) – having no color or hue

🌱 Derivatives

tonal (adj.) – relating to tones or shades of color