How to Use intonation in a Sentence

intonation

noun
Definition of intonationnext
Synonyms for intonationnext
  • Sharpe fixed the intonation, filed down some the frets on the neck and tightened up input jack.
    — Matt Wake | Mwake@al.com, al, 6 Feb. 2023
  • How an actor gives an intonation on a pronoun can change the whole tone of the scene.
    — Brian Porreca, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 June 2017
  • That can come from the intonation of the speakers, the rhythm of their speech, or how people react.
    — Scott Kirsner, BostonGlobe.com, 19 Aug. 2022
  • De Niro’s lines, so De Niro could hear the intonation, not to feign a Southern dialect, but to sound close enough.
    — Tim Chitwood, ajc, 22 May 2021
  • A study found that different parts of a dog’s brain process intonation and the meaning of words spoken to them.
    — Michael Roston, New York Times, 15 Nov. 2016
  • The verdict from the rest of Wales on Downey's intonation will come after the film's worldwide release this weekend.
    — Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY, 15 Jan. 2020
  • The brass encountered a bit of raggedness, the woodwinds a touch of sour intonation, but things got tighter quickly.
    — Tim Smith, baltimoresun.com, 2 June 2018
  • The notes began springing out with a glib, dead intonation.
    — Maggie Doherty, The New Yorker, 26 Feb. 2024
  • Emilio chimes in, his accent still rich with the rhythmic intonation of Cuba.
    — Brooke Mazurek, Variety, 5 Apr. 2022
  • For people, both the word and intonation are important, but no one knew—until now—whether that was also the case for dogs.
    — Enikő Kubinyi, National Geographic, 31 Aug. 2016
  • Once Shawn Mendes came in and recorded his singing sessions, the animators could draw from that and reflect the intonation of his voice in Lyle’s face.
    — Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 10 Oct. 2022
  • The adagio begins with muted warmth in the strings, which Reinhardt used to highlight the winds’ unity of timbre and intonation.
    — Luke Schulze, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 May 2022
  • Double-stops proved a stumbling block for Woods, in the sonata’s first movement and throughout the recital, often turning sour in intonation.
    — Washington Post, 13 Sep. 2019
  • Taking into account tone, speed and intonation, a 2008 British study found that the actor Jeremy Irons has close to the ideal voice.
    — Eben Shapiro, Time, 14 May 2018
  • Think of tone, intonation and gestures, which can all serve to amplify the impact of your pitch and make the pitch resonate more deeply with your audience.
    — Yec, Forbes, 2 Aug. 2022
  • Then call the crew and cast, then start rehearsal, then consult on moving, accent, or intonation.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 24 Apr. 2024
  • The intonation that remains on Deutsch’s sometimes behave so strangely doesn’t sound like that of a full sentence.
    — Ben MacAulay, Popular Science, 22 June 2023
  • In addition to the perfect intonation, Schwartz connects the dots, finds the story behind the story.
    — Mike Jensen, Philly.com, 25 May 2017
  • While the audience in the video laughs at the AI's uncanny speech intonations and use of filler words, the demonstration has also raised concerns.
    — Jason Lemon, ajc, 11 May 2018
  • Speech synthesis to us is not just the words themselves, but the nuance of creating the full richness of voice, like intonation and rhythm, in real time.
    — Daniela Hernandez, WSJ, 2 Sep. 2022
  • As with people’s brains, parts of dogs’ left hemisphere react to meaning and parts of the right hemisphere to intonation — the emotional content of a sound.
    — James Gorman, New York Times, 29 Aug. 2016
  • The researchers looked at factors such as intonation, speech rate, pausing, volume and pitch.
    — Karinna Hurley, Scientific American, 23 Jan. 2020
  • The director, whose voice was being piped into Klein’s headphones from the control booth, told her to do it again, this time keeping her intonation steady and even.
    — Jennifer Szalai, New York Times, 30 Aug. 2023
  • The tenors and basses were compelling here, the intonation of each group solid throughout their registers.
    — Luke Schulze, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Dec. 2022
  • If you’re used to the subtle eye contact of Succession or the tiny changes in intonation on Veep, you’ll be surprised by how many actual punchlines are here.
    — Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 13 Oct. 2022
  • These include the use of a high pitch, exaggerated intonation and a soft voice – traits that just so happen to overlap with the way most people talk to babies.
    — Ramesh Kaipa, The Conversation, 3 Dec. 2021
  • This rapid decline suggests that intonation is processed in the more ancient dog brain regions.
    — Virginia Morell, National Geographic, 6 Aug. 2020
  • To smooth jumpy transitions, the program attempts to offer a few different versions of the word to best match intonation and phrasing.
    — Nathaniel Scharping, Discover Magazine, 17 May 2017
  • Their characters are younger, more capable female clones of their dads, and these actors nail the intonation and demeanor of young Winter and Reeves.
    — Nathan Mattise, Ars Technica, 29 Aug. 2020
  • Dahomey may be a fallen kingdom, Benin is not Nigeria or Wakanda, so the intonation in this film should be distinct from others.
    — Ineye Komonibo, refinery29.com, 8 July 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'intonation.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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