Examples of “tone” in a Sentence

noun The quality or character of a sound, especially its pitch, timbre, or emotional coloring.

• Her tone of voice made it clear she was annoyed.
• He answered in a calm, measured tone.
• The cello has a warm, rich tone that fills the whole hall.

noun The overall attitude or mood conveyed in writing or speech.

• The email struck an unnecessarily harsh tone.
• The meeting set a cooperative tone for the rest of the project.
• The author keeps a light, humorous tone throughout the whole book.

noun A shade or variation of a color.

• The painting uses warm tones of orange and red.
• She chose a soft tone of blue for the nursery walls.
• The sunset painted the sky in deep tones of purple and gold.

verb To adjust or soften the character or intensity of something (often "tone down").

• You might want to tone down that comment before you send it.
• The teacher asked the class to tone down their noise during the test.
• We had to tone the language in the speech down for younger listeners.