How to Use overtone in a Sentence

overtone

noun
  • While there are racial overtones to this law, this is not a race issue.
    Ken Daley, NOLA.com, 2 Oct. 2017
  • The scent has light rose overtones and is NOT overwhelming.
    Sam Peters, ELLE, 28 Feb. 2023
  • The same can be said for chimichurri wings that accented the flames with herbal overtones of cilantro.
    Mike Sutter, ExpressNews.com, 27 Feb. 2020
  • The league’s work could not help but carry colonial overtones.
    Branko Milanovic, Foreign Affairs, 21 June 2022
  • President Rosa Leal, who questioned the racist overtones of some of the comments made.
    Gloria Casas, Chicago Tribune, 21 Mar. 2023
  • In terms of flavor, the blend brings a richness and a semi-sweet overtone that works well at the morning table.
    Chris MacIas, sacbee.com, 4 June 2017
  • The overtones created by the two of them singing together are thrilling.
    Chris Willman, Variety, 6 May 2024
  • The coconut milk and coconut cream used in the vanilla ice cream gives it a distinct overtone of coconut.
    Rebekah Denn, The Seattle Times, 22 June 2017
  • Reeds rasp, bows grind, voices growl, and strings shimmer with overtones.
    Burkhard Bilger, The New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2023
  • Others hate it because of its rapey overtones and in-between tones.
    Danielle Kraese, The New Yorker, 14 June 2023
  • With its overtones of anti-Semitism, the case swept over France and almost plunged it into a civil war.
    Deborah Young, The Hollywood Reporter, 30 Aug. 2019
  • The bright coral color has rose overtones before fading to ivory.
    Steve Bender, Southern Living, 22 May 2024
  • For air, dashes of light blue; for water, a deep-blue hue with copper overtones.
    Robb Report Studio, Robb Report, 20 Feb. 2024
  • But how did a photo with such blatant racial overtones make it onto the site to begin with?
    Anne Branigin, The Root, 8 Jan. 2018
  • Given the dynamics of the NBA, this can have some unpleasant overtones to it.
    Nathaniel Friedman, GQ, 11 May 2018
  • The pace rapidly shifted to lyrical, modern and tap dances, along with some comedic overtones.
    Elizabeth Moore, NOLA.com, 13 May 2018
  • The show, like Roseanne, is stuffed with racial and political overtones—but, again like Roseanne, is not without hope.
    Jason Parham, WIRED, 28 Mar. 2018
  • This results in overtones, akin to the overtones of sound waves produced by a guitar or piano.
    Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 3 Oct. 2023
  • Uber and Lyft have overtones of the wacky days of the dot-com bubble, when sketchy business plans and big losses were an active selling point.
    James MacKintosh, WSJ, 14 May 2019
  • These are similar techniques to what is used to break down a sound into its overtones.
    Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 1 July 2024
  • Chilean seabass proved that point, a glazed ingot of pearled fish with overtones of pineapple and citrus resting on fried rice with lump crab.
    Mike Sutter, San Antonio Express-News, 10 May 2018
  • The former is hardy, thick-skinned, and prized for its acidity, while the latter is silkier on the palate with honeyed, peachy overtones.
    Benjamin Kemper, Condé Nast Traveler, 5 Sep. 2018
  • Especially in our District, where a lot of the blame for our city’s ills includes racial overtones.
    Baltimore Sun Media, Baltimore Sun, 11 Apr. 2024
  • There’s a sultry oil laced with suede and vanilla, for a hit of 1970s disco fever, while a black-tea perfume with peppery overtones takes the spice route.
    Vogue, 12 Oct. 2017
  • The spiritual overtones that had so inspired the author were also a common part of the act.
    Erik Ofgang, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 Mar. 2023
  • There was enough doubt for an acquittal, and the Hanes men planned to try the case without any political or racial overtones.
    Ivana Hrynkiw, AL.com, 4 Apr. 2018
  • By the 18th century, the God save yous had dropped out of the picture and goodbye had also lost its religious overtones.
    Melissa Mohr, The Christian Science Monitor, 2 Apr. 2018
  • There are many faster vibrations—called overtones—on top of the main vibration, each with their own volume.
    Science Buddies, Scientific American, 19 Apr. 2018
  • Others sensed racial overtones when advocates described the white in the flag’s sunrise as the color of unity.
    John Gurda, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 6 Feb. 2020
  • And there are those dark overtones many have ascribed to director Steven Spielberg’s splitting-with-his-wife (at the time, Amy Irving) state of mind.
    Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY, 4 July 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'overtone.' 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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