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falsetto

[fawl-set-oh]
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noun, plural fal·set·tos.
  1. an unnaturally or artificially high-pitched voice or register, especially in a man.
  2. a person, especially a man, who sings with such a voice.
adjective
  1. of, noting, or having the quality and compass of such a voice.
adverb
  1. in a falsetto.

Origin of falsetto

1765–75; < Italian, equivalent to fals(o) (< Latin falsus false) + -etto -et
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for falsetto

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • A wit, in a falsetto scream, asked if he might have the next dance.

    Louisiana Lou

    William West Winter

  • He was a creature that had no falsetto in a single fibre of his being, no shadow of affectation.

    The Christian

    Hall Caine

  • He had to repeat this in a falsetto voice before June understood.

    The End of Time

    Wallace West

  • It was just then that Ebony observed him and uttered a falsetto cry of astonishment.

    The Fugitives

    R.M. Ballantyne

  • She convinces herself that Jack Valentine is not only a falsetto, but a financier.

British Dictionary definitions for falsetto

falsetto

noun plural -tos
  1. a form of vocal production used by male singers to extend their range upwards beyond its natural compass by limiting the vibration of the vocal cords

Word Origin

C18: from Italian, from falso false
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for falsetto

n.

"an artificial voice," 1774, Italian, diminutive of falso "false," from Latin falsus (see false).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper