overtone
UK/ˈəʊ.və.təʊn//ˈoʊvɚtoʊn/
overtone noun: a tone whose frequency is an integer multiple of another; a member of the harmonic series.
Noun
overtone (plural overtones)
- A tone whose frequency is an integer multiple of another; a member of the harmonic series.
- An implicit message (in a film, book, verbal discussion, or similar) perceived as overwhelming the explicit message.
- 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.1918–1921 (date written), D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “XX Settembre”, in Aaron’s Rod, New York, N.Y.: Thomas Seltzer, published April 1922, →OCLC, page 215
- 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".2012 April 23, Angelique Chrisafis, “François Hollande on top but far right scores record result in French election”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN...
- Antonyms:
- undertone
- An implicit message (in a film, book, verbal discussion, or similar) perceived subtly alongside, but not overwhelming, the explicit message.
- 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...1972 October 13, National Transportation Safety Board, “2.1 Analysis”, in Aircraft Accident Report: Alaska Airlines, Inc., Boeing 727, N2969G, Near Juneau, Alaska, September 4, 1971, archived from...
- Synonyms:
- undertone, undercurrent
Verb
overtone (third-person singular simple present overtones, present participle overtoning, simple past and past participle overtoned)
- To give an overtone to.
- The flesh tints appear to have been darkened by being overworked; the draperies are overtoned in the same way […]1860, The Art Journal, page 39
- 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.1977, Sol Dember, Steven A. Dember, Jeffrey H. Dember, Drawing & painting the world of animals, page 55
overtone meaning in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Tagalog
overtone in Tamil
- மேற் சுரம், மேல்தொனி, வண்ணத்தியல் சாயல், மேற்றொனி, மேல் சுரம்
overtone in Malayalam
- hidden meaning, connotation, implication
- ആന്തരാർത്ഥം, ഉള്ളുകള്ളി, ഉൾക്കള്ളി, വ്യഞ്ജനം, അരിമ്പൊരുൾ, അരുമ്പൊരുൾ
overtone in Kannada
- ಸೂಚ್ಯಾರ್ಥ, ವ್ಯಂಗ್ಯಾರ್ಥ, ವಿಷಯ ಯಾ ಭಾವನೆಗಳ ಸೂಚನೆ
overtone in Tagalog
- harmonic
- sampawlinig
Examples of overtone in a sentence
- This cabernet has slight juglandaceous overtones.
- In fact, the fratty overtones of the “bro” prefix are misleading.
- Reich’s real discovery here is the power of the overtone series and of psychoacoustic effects.
Synonyms of overtone
Antonyms
Forms of overtone
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | overtones |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | overtones |
| present participle | overtoning |
| past participle | overtoned |
| past | overtoned |
Origin of overtone
From over- + tone, calque of German Oberton.
Words formed from overtone
Questions about overtone
- What does overtone mean?
- Overtone means a tone whose frequency is an integer multiple of another; a member of the harmonic series.
- What is overtone in Tamil?
- Overtone in Tamil is மேற் சுரம், மேல்தொனி, வண்ணத்தியல் சாயல். See Overtone meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is overtone?
- Overtone can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce overtone?
- Overtone is pronounced /ˈoʊvɚtoʊn/ (US).
- What is the plural of overtone?
- The plural of overtone is overtones.
Words near overtone in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: overtone (page history and authors); overtone (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); overtone (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); overtone (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-overtone.wav.
Cite this entry: “overtone.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/overtone. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.