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Glite Dictionary
natural tone

natural tone

4.2
A normal relaxed way of speaking that sounds honest
  • noun
translation icon : tono natural
  • Isn't this a nice little natural tone here, love thing?

Examples

  • When giving a presentation, try to speak in a natural tone to engage your audience.

  • It should always be used with discretion so that it does not detract from the natural tone quality of the instrument itself.

    Academic text (1994)

  • "It's all superstition," said Amir in a natural tone.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • He delivered his speech in a natural tone, making it feel more authentic and relatable.

  • To improve your communication skills, practice using a natural tone during conversations.

Synonyms

naturalness
vsnatural tone
1 3.9

Being genuine and not showing forced or fake feelings

is specifically about how someone speaks rather than the general quality of genuineness
unpretentiousness
vsnatural tone
6.8

A natural, simple way of behaving that does not try to seem better than others

focuses on speech manner rather than simple style or lack of pretension

How Natural

natural tone
4.2
formality
  • Formal
11 5.4

Surface Forms

natural tone singular
natural tones plural

Morphology

natural + tone

The meaning 'a normal and unforced manner of speaking' is directly derivable from combining 'natural' (habitual, not artificial) with 'tone' (the manner or attitude of voice). This adjective + noun composition is fully compositional and widely attested cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

The phrase natural tone comes from the idea that natural means simple and tone means the sound of someone's voice. Imagine you speaking calmly, like with friends and not trying to show off. That's why it means speaking in a 'normal' and 'unforced' way.