tonelessly
1
7.4
- adverb
- /ˈtoʊnˌlɛsli/
- Finally, she said tonelessly, "You're right, of course."
- said tonelessly
- replied tonelessly
- asked tonelessly
Examples
-
"A reporter happened to be in the emergency room when we got here," Barnes said tonelessly.
Fiction book (1991) -
"There you go," said Santa tonelessly.
Fiction book (1997) -
So when the American major asked tonelessly, "Who are you?"
Fiction book (1995) -
"Stand down," he said tonelessly a few seconds later.
Fiction book (2002) -
"Did I?" "No," she said tonelessly.
Fiction book (2001) -
"What's that?" he asked tonelessly.
Fiction book (1998) -
"You accusing me of racism, kid?" he asked tonelessly.
Fiction book (2000) -
"About eleven," Peregrine replied tonelessly.
Fiction book (1991) -
"There was a fire at Roderick Gillsworth's place," he reported tonelessly.
Fiction book (1992) -
"Can you close the door?" she said, tonelessly.
Synonyms
4
5.2
In a calm way that shows no strong feeling or interest
1
6.2
In a dull, repeated way that is not interesting
1
6.0
In a way that shows no feeling on the face
1
6.9
Without showing any feeling
Antonyms
How Expressive
61
2.8
32
1.0
1
3.7
1
7.4
3
3.6
14
3.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Tonelessly breaks into tone + -less + -ly, where tone means 'sound' or 'pitch' and -less means 'without'. So tonelessly means to speak 'without' tone or change in voice — flat and without expression, which explains the modern meaning.