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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
undertone
noun
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ a story with racist undertones
▪ There was an unmistakable undertone of nationalist resentment in many of their remarks.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ A pleasant floral aroma with woody undertones this tasted like a very dry pale sherry with bubbles which had a tannic aftertaste.
▪ Balanced it was not, with acidic undertones so evident that it was hard to swallow.
▪ He disregarded the Navigator's diminution of his name, perhaps sensing the undertone, this time, of almost fond indebtedness.
▪ In the prevailing hush of the room, it had an especially clumsy ring, an undertone of impermanence.
▪ It is most definitely a thriller, but with strong romantic undertones.
▪ The darkness and space made us all speak in undertones.
▪ With him, it's that certain words have terribly strong undertones.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Undertone

Undertone \Un"der*tone`\, n. A low or subdued tone or utterance; a tone less loud than usual.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
undertone

1762, "low or subdued tone," from under + tone (n.). Figurative sense of "undercurrent of feelings, etc.," is attested from 1861.

Wiktionary
undertone

n. 1 an auditory tone of low pitch or volume 2 an implicit message perceived subtly alongside, but not detracting noticeably from, the explicit message conveyed in or by a book, film, verbal dialogue or similar (contrast with overtone); an undercurrent 3 a pale colour, or one seen underneath another colour

WordNet
undertone
  1. n. a quiet or hushed tone of voice; "spoke in undertones"

  2. subdued emotional quality underlying an utterance; implicit meaning [syn: undercurrent]

  3. a pale or subdued color [syn: tinge]

Wikipedia
Undertone

Undertone or Undertones may refer to:

  • An underlying or implied tendency or meaning; a subtext
  • An element of an undertone series; a pitch whose frequency is an integral fraction of another (subharmonic)
  • Undertone, a secondary color nuance visible when paint is applied thinly on a white surface or mixted in a substrate, in contrast to the primary color called masstone.
  • Undertone (advertising company), a New York-based online advertising company
  • The Undertones Northern Irish Band
  • The Northwestern Undertones (a cappella group)
Undertone (advertising company)

Undertone is a digital advertising company founded in 2002, initially as a subsidiary of Intercept Interactive, a digital media buying company. In December 2015, Undertone was acquired by Israeli software making company Perion Network for a fee of $180 million.

Usage examples of "undertone".

Cerryl wondered at the slightly bitter undertone, suspecting he knew all too well to what Beryal referred.

But for now, she moved to the East, where a censer released faint wisps of an incense that tugged at the senses, its undertone just slightly different from the usual liturgical blend.

When Hobgood hesitated, Sheff nudged him with the revolver muzzle, whereupon the inventor began to talk in a wheezy undertone.

And towards midnight, while they were chatting together in undertones, they were suddenly stupefied at hearing Seraphine raise her voice, after preserving silence for three hours.

Its companions conversed amongst themselves, laughingin throatless undertones as they went along.

Down into the sea sank the sun, tinting the vast horizon with flakes of crimson, and touching with rich deep undertones the tossing waters of the Scheldt.

Was her spiritual power, which was unclogged by any grosser sense than that of hearing, conscious of some terrible undertone of impending trouble?

Each galaxy was a harmonic undertone to the operatic whole which sang thunderously and unheeded to the unsentient darkness.

The ship had been rife with increasingly lurid speculations in avid undertones as we had sailed to Carif and I recalled Naldeth had been the source of some of the wilder tales of turbulent adventure and limitless wealth, far removed from the truths of life as a sword for hire, as Aiten had told it to me.

It was good to be back in that calm, purposeful, well-ordered world, where an atmosphere of assured competence prevailed and questions of life and death were discussed in cool, measured undertones.

He had spoken quickly, and in a low undertone that the Cheng family had not heard.

At first William and Chloris stared out through the windows and spoke in undertones.

But it takes something more than garish action with homoerotic undertones to hold my interest for two long hours.

It was to be something along the lines of the Rubaiyat, but without the gentle melancholy and bitter undertone of that hedonistic masterwork.

There was a curious lurking sardonicism in the words, an undertone of mockery.