Undertone
['ʌndətəʊn] or ['ʌndɚton]
Definition
(noun.) a pale or subdued color.
(noun.) a subdued emotional quality underlying an utterance; implicit meaning.
(noun.) a quiet or hushed tone of voice; 'spoke in undertones'.
Typist: Wanda--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) A low or subdued tone or utterance; a tone less loud than usual.
Checker: Lyman
Definition
n. a low tone: a low state of the physical faculties: a low subdued colour.—adj. Un′dertōned.
Typed by Gus
Examples
- Pray don't say any more about it, said Will, in a hoarse undertone extremely unlike his usual light voice. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- This, said my godmother in an undertone, is the child. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- Of European reputation, added Mr. Badger in an undertone. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- Let her try a certain person's pamphlets, said Mrs. Cadwallader in an undertone, seeing the gentlemen enter. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Wery pretty indeed it is,' remarked Duff, in an undertone. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- In all this there is no undertone of complaint to warn me that she is absolutely unhappy in her married life. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- My immediate comrade and I talked in an undertone about quarantine laws and their penalties, but we found nothing cheering in the subject. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- You seem one of the jolly sort--looks as conwivial as a live trout in a lime basket,' added Mr. Weller, in an undertone. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- Haley made a turn or two about the boat, and then, coming up, seated himself near her, and began saying something to her in an indifferent undertone. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- Crispin faced round abruptly, and was about to say something in an undertone, but, after a moment's deliberation, turned slowly away. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- After questioning and examining her, Lydgate said to the house-surgeon in an undertone, It's not tumor: it's cramp. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Caliphronas, tired of the conversation, had gone to the piano, where Eunice was playing softly, and talked to her in an undertone. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- Mrs. Fisher added in an undertone to Selden: I do hope there hasn't been a row. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- Lanterns swayed here and there, people were talking in an undertone on the launch and in the boats. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Reduced counsels,' interposed Mr. Weller, senior, in an undertone. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- It's wonderful how close poor Peter was, she said, in the same undertones. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- They were so often diverting themselves in undertones, those three men whom God had mocked with the most tremendous opportunity in history. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
Checked by Edmond