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intonation

[in-toh-nay-shuhn, -tuh-] / ˌɪn toʊˈneɪ ʃən, -tə- /


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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On the highlight “Waist Deep,” a piano-led pop number with a chord progression that recalls John Lennon’s “Watching the Wheels,” her intonation is simple and clear, content to let the melody do the emotional work.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026

The phrase was based off his uncle, he said in a 2008 interview, and he had also said it in the same intonation in other films before debuting on HBO's The Wire.

From BBC ● Dec. 30, 2025

I found it easier to pronounce than I anticipated, but having the right intonation was where I relied on Hikari to correct me.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 2025

He tried to focus on his mannerisms, on the intonation of his voice.

From Salon ● Jan. 7, 2025

Instead, his voice held a low resonating quality, a certain flat and steady intonation I found appealing, like the rumble of distant thunder.

From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros

The technology, he said, cannot not exactly capture a person’s speech patterns, intonations, facial tics and emotions.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2024

Birds squawked in weird intonations, a few stars dotted a purplish sky, and the temperature felt like it dropped several degrees.

From National Geographic ● Jan. 4, 2024

It's now possible for AI to take three seconds of human speech and then hold forth at length with its same patterns and intonations in an exact mimicry.

From Scientific American ● Sep. 22, 2023

It has Rosario intonations, it's something someone's grandmother might say.

From BBC ● May 29, 2023

Laila marveled at her daughter’s manner of speech, her cadence and rhythm, her thoughtful pauses and intonations, so adult, so at odds with the immature body that housed the voice.

From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini




Vocabulary lists containing intonation


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