chromatic
Americanadjective
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pertaining to color or colors.
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Music.
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involving a modification of the normal scale by the use of accidentals.
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progressing by semitones, especially to a tone having the same letter name, as in C to C sharp.
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adjective
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of, relating to, or characterized by a colour or colours
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music
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involving the sharpening or flattening of notes or the use of such notes in chords and harmonic progressions
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of or relating to the chromatic scale or an instrument capable of producing it
a chromatic harmonica
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of or relating to chromaticism Compare diatonic
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Other Word Forms
- chromatically adverb
- chromaticism noun
- nonchromatic adjective
- nonchromatically adverb
- unchromatic adjective
Etymology
Origin of chromatic
1590–1600; < Greek chrōmatikós, equivalent to chrōmat- ( chromato- ) + -ikos -ic
Compare meaning
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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.
The treed “Woodland Garden” to the west, with black tupelo and swamp white oaks, gives way to a “Perennial Meadow,” whose asters, purple beebalms and orange butterfly weed were chosen for their chromatic effect.
“There is some indication that chromatic composition of light, whether it is outdoors or from digital devices, is an important factor in this whole mechanism,” Khanal said.
From Salon
The music itself blends jazz, blues and gospel music, creating a compositional voice the New York Times described as "dominated by lushly chromatic and modal harmonic writing, spiked with jagged rhythms and tart dissonance."
From Salon
This roughly mimics the developmental progression of chromatic enrichment as babies' eyesight matures over the first years of life.
From Science Daily
It can strike you as quintessentially French, perhaps because it shares chromatic DNA with Matisse’s “Blue Nude” series of cutouts.
From New York Times
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.
