overtone
/ˈoʊvɚtoʊn/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.28 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An implicit message (in a film, book, verbal discussion, or similar) perceived as overwhelming the explicit message.
Example Sentences
- "A window opened above the shop, and a frowsty-looking man, yellow-pale, was quickly and nervously hauling in the national flag. There were shouts of derision and mockery—a great overtone of acrid derision—the flag and its owner ignominiously disappeared."
- "The lawyer and twice-divorced mother of three [Marine Le Pen] had presented herself as the modern face of her party, trying to strip it of unsavoury overtones after her father's [Jean-Marie Le Pen's] convictions for saying the Nazi occupation of France was not "particularly inhumane"."
- "It has already been established that the crew was competent and qualified for operation of AS66. With the exception of some overtones of irritation about the manner in which another aircraft, N799Y, affected the flight's progress into the Juneau area, the recorded cockpit conversation, in general, reflects a relaxed but businesslike atmosphere."
- "The flesh tints appear to have been darkened by being overworked; the draperies are overtoned in the same way […]"
- "The background is now rendered by using meadow green with a stick pastel around the lower area under the lynx in an irregular fashion, and overtoning the areas closer to the animal with an irregular application of leaf green color."
- "Can you imagine, finally, the opening of Janácek's Sinfonietta, with its richly overtoned, overlapping fanfares, performed not by brass but by a consort of oboes—even very loud ones?"
Etymology
Word Breakdown
- Prefix: over
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈoʊvɚtoʊn/
- British English: /ˈəʊ.və.təʊn/