vocal
Syllables: vo·cal/ˈvəʊ̯.kəl/US/ˈvoʊ̯.kəl/
vocal adjective: of, pertaining to, or resembling the human voice or speech.
Adjective
vocal (comparative more vocal, superlative most vocal)
- Of, pertaining to, or resembling the human voice or speech.
- vocal problems
- Used in the production of speech sounds.
- vocal apparatus
- Relating to, composed or arranged for, or sung by the human voice.
- Consisting of, or characterized by, voice, or tone produced in the larynx, which may be modified, either by resonance, as in the case of the vowels, or by obstructive action, as in certain consonants, such as v, l, etc., or by both, as in the nasals m, n, ng.
- Synonym of vocalic.
- Uttered or modulated by the voice; expressed in words.
- vocal melody, vocal prayer, vocal worship
- Expressing opinions or feelings freely, loudly, or insistently.
- The protesters were very vocal in their message to the mayor.
- Hendy has come out as something of an evangelist for discontinuous electrification. For Waterloo-Exeter, this could make real sense on a route where the high capital cost of wiring or third rail all the way to Devon would be prohibitive. But what about his vocal support for it on East West Rail...2025 February 19, Paul Clifton, “I am absolutely committed to reforming the railway”, in RAIL, number 1029, page 41
- Having or exercising the power of producing voice, speech, or sound.
- To hill or valley, fountain, or fresh shade,
Made vocal by my song.1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost - The tide flows down, the wave again
Is vocal in its wooded walls:
My deeper anguish also falls,
And I can speak a little then.1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XIX”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 32
- To hill or valley, fountain, or fresh shade,
- Synonym of expressive.
- Full of voices.
Noun
vocal (plural vocals)
- A vocal sound; specifically, a purely vocal element of speech, unmodified except by resonance; a vowel or a diphthong; a tonic element; a tonic.
- A part of a piece of music that is sung.
- Best cuts: "The Evil Dude," "Kung Fu, Too!" "Mama Love," "New Orleans" (with a punchy vocal by Teresa Brewer).1975, Billboard, volume 87, number 24, page 50
- Synonyms:
- song
- A musical performance involving singing.
- A man in the Roman Catholic Church who has a right to vote in certain elections.
vocal meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
vocal in Hindi
- of or pertaining to the voice or speech
- स्वर svar
vocal in Tamil
- குரல் சார்ந்த
vocal in Urdu
- of or pertaining to the voice or speech
- آواز دار āvāz dār
vocal in Bengali
- of or pertaining to the voice or speech
- কণ্ঠ্য konṭṭho
- uttered or modulated by the voice
- গেয় geẏo
More languagesFewer languages
- vocal in Malayalam
- വായിൽനിന്നുണ്ടാകുന്ന, ധ്വനിയുളള, ഉച്ചത്തിൽ പ്രകടിപ്പിക്കുന്ന
- vocal in Kannada
- ಉಚ್ಚಾರದ uccārada, ಧ್ವನಿ dhvani
- vocal in Tagalog
- ukol sa tinig, pantinig, maabla
- vocal in Arabic
- صَوْتِيّ ṣawtiyy
- vocal in Malay
- vokal
- vocal in Indonesian
- vokal, lisan
- vocal in Vietnamese
- nói to tiếng, nói lớn tiếng
Examples of vocal in a sentence
- The Chinese government is well-known for disappearing particularly vocal political dissidents.
- He spoke levelly, with no vocal variety to show his passion.
- That flutter in your voice is a vocal tremor, caused by the involuntary contractions of muscles in the larynx, throat or other adjacent parts of the body.
Synonyms of vocal
2 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Forms of vocal
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more vocal |
| superlative | most vocal |
| Noun | |
| plural | vocals |
Origin of vocal
Late Middle English vocal, borrowed from Latin vōcālis (“uttering a voice, sounding, speaking”), from vōx (“a voice, sound, tone”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix). Doublet of vowel and vocalis. Compare Old French vocal.
Words formed from vocal
- audiovocal
- bivocal
- cardiovocal
- cricovocal
- monovocal
- nonvocal
- polyvocal
- prevocal
- semivocal
- subvocal
- unvocal
- vocal blackface
- vocal cord
- vocal chord
- vocal fold
- vocal fremitus
- vocal fry
- vocalism
- vocalist
- vocalistic
- vocality
- vocalize
- vocalise
- vocaller
- vocally
- vocal minority
- vocal music
- vocalness
- vocal sac
- vocal tract
- vocal tube
- vocoid
- gang vocal
- off vocal
- vocalic
- vocalese
Phrases with vocal
Words that rhyme with vocal
Questions about vocal
- What does vocal mean?
- Vocal means of, pertaining to, or resembling the human voice or speech.
- What is vocal in Hindi?
- Vocal in Hindi is स्वर (svar). See Vocal meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is vocal?
- Vocal can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce vocal?
- Vocal is pronounced /ˈvəʊ̯.kəl/ (UK).
Words near vocal in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: vocal (page history and authors); vocal (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); vocal (Malayalam 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)-Mélange a trois-vocal.wav.
Cite this entry: “vocal.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/vocal. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.