contralto
Americannoun
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the lowest female voice or voice part, intermediate between soprano and tenor.
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the alto, or highest male voice or voice part.
-
a singer with a contralto voice.
adjective
noun
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In the context of a choir often shortened to: alto. the lowest female voice, usually having a range of approximately from F a fifth below middle C to D a ninth above it
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a singer with such a voice
adjective
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of contralto
1720–30; < Italian, equivalent to contr(a) contra- 2 ( def. ) + alto alto
Explanation
A contralto is the very deepest female voice in opera. A contralto generally sings the harmony when she's singing with another woman. While it's mainly classical music that uses the term contralto, it's also occasionally used in jazz to describe a very low female singing voice. If a man is singing the same notes and range as a contralto, he's called a countertenor. Like most musical terms, contralto is an Italian word. Its roots are contra-, "against or opposite," and alto, a slightly higher voice — in other words, "the next voice after alto."
Vocabulary lists containing contralto
Kindred
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When You Were Everything
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Piecing Me Together
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The cliché applied to contralto voices is “plummy” and Heynis offers its reverse, a sort of lean, emotional essentialism in a deep and beautiful voice.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 2, 2026
Yarrow was the tenor in Peter, Paul and Mary, his tender and attentive vocals sandwiched between the soothing baritone of Noel Paul Stookey and the airy contralto of Mary Travers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 7, 2025
Taking her cues from the likes of Elvis Presley and Eartha Kitt, she began training her famous contralto.
From Salon ● Nov. 23, 2024
The new arrangements emphasise the sumptuous timbre of Spiteri's contralto, adding fresh intimacy to familiar melodies.
From BBC ● Mar. 26, 2024
“My name is Mrs. Penworthy,” she said in a deep contralto voice.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
She became one of the industry’s best-known contraltos — the female singers with the lowest vocal range — touring widely and making more than 80 recordings.
From New York Times ● Oct. 13, 2021
Where many contraltos are endowed with the lightish, dusky equivalent of a viola, her voice — immense, deep, velvety and burnished — put a cello at her command.
From New York Times ● Apr. 12, 2012
Her voice was not as powerful as that of some of the other famous Italian contraltos and mezzos, but it was immediately recognisable.
From The Guardian ● May 7, 2010
Pretty & popular young sopranos are rare enough, but pretty & popular young contraltos almost unheard of.
From Time Magazine Archive
It was easier for Chester to play the ones written for tenors than the ones for sopranos, contraltos, and basses, but he did them all beautifully.
From "The Cricket in Times Square" by George Selden
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
