Meaning

Of or relating to tones or tonality..

Definitions by Sense

1. Of or relating to tones or tonality.
2. Of or relating to the general character, mood, or trend of something.
3. (music) Employing tones that have a predictable relationship to some tonic.
4. (linguistics) Employing differences in pitch (tones) to distinguish differences in the meaning of otherwise similar words (words which would otherwise be homophonic).
5. (in Mesoamerican mythology) An animal companion which accompanies a person from birth to death.

Example Sentences

Songs for the family-table on Sabbaths and holidays—songs which give those various holy days tonal expression and which aim to spiritualize the meals.

The lurid way the story played out felt like a tonal shift for Empire, but not necessarily a bad one—in the process of shedding its cool costume-drama attitude for grotesque family dysfunction, the episode felt for once less like a story about Prohibition and more one about a specific set of people.

When a tonal suffers misfortune or death, the same thing happens to the person associated with it.

Word Forms

• more tonal
• most tonal
• tonals
• tona

Synonyms for tonal

Antonyms for tonal

Related Words

When Should You Use Tonal?

Use tonal when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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