baritone

American  

[bar-i-tohn] / ˈbær ɪˌtoʊn /

Or barytone

noun

• baritones
  plural

1. a male voice or voice part intermediate between tenor and bass.

2. a singer with such a voice.

3. a large, valved brass instrument shaped like a trumpet or coiled in oval form, used especially in military bands.

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adjective

1. of or relating to a baritone; having the compass of a baritone.

baritone British  

/ ˈbærɪˌtəʊn /

noun

1. the second lowest adult male voice, having a range approximately from G an eleventh below middle C to F a fourth above it

2. a singer with such a voice

3. the second lowest instrument in the families of the saxophone, horn, oboe, etc

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adjective

1. relating to or denoting a baritone

   a baritone part

2. denoting the second lowest instrument in a family

   the baritone horn

baritone Cultural  

1. A range of the male singing voice higher than bass and lower than tenor.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• baritonal
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• baritones
  plural

Etymology

Origin of baritone

1600–10; < Italian baritono low voice < Greek barýtonos deep-sounding. See barytone

Explanation

A baritone is a singer with a deep, rich voice. The male star of an opera is usually a baritone. You can use the word baritone to mean the singer himself, or as an adjective to describe his voice. A baritone singing voice is the most common one for a man, falling in between the higher tenor and lower bass registers. Baritone comes from the Italian baritono, with its Greek root word barytonos, "deep-voiced," combining barys, "heavy or deep" and tonos, "tone."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

baritone baritones

Michael Spyres’s clarion tenor and Brian Mulligan’s warm baritone limned the Emperor and Barak; Nina Stemme’s register leaps brought the Nurse to ferocious life.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026

Platner’s baritone voice, working-man aesthetic, and rough-around-the-edges vibe seemed to be as much part of his appeal as any of his policy positions and his undeniable charisma.

From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026

Hammerstein, the musical’s lyricist, conceived the song with the great black baritone Paul Robeson in mind, and constructed it himself using music that Kern had already composed for the production.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026

Under the blazing Vegas sun, giant billboards advertise "Live Enhanced" as the baritone voice of a sports announcer pretends to introduce British swimmer Ben Proud and other athletes.

From BBC ● May 23, 2026

And then he begins to sing, a Broadway baritone as big as his waist, "I can't live without him!"

From "Will Grayson, Will Grayson" by John Green and David Levithan

“Dollar now” is a popular filler word, especially among livestock auctioneers, who are generally baritones.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025

Michael Spyres — a baritenor, that rare breed of singers, more prevalent in Rossini’s time, who nimbly span the ranges of baritones and tenors — would best be described as an opera house vocalist.

From New York Times ● Sep. 8, 2022

Believing a music career was unattainable after his voice pitched down during puberty, Giveon regained confidence when a Grammys music education program introduced him to other famous baritones like the legendary Frank Sinatra.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 14, 2022

Though baritones are gaining popularity in the country ranks, their numbers are few.

From Washington Times ● Jul. 29, 2017

She stocks up on new CDs, and now, instead of old Bengali voices singing Rabindranath Tagore songs, the baritones of musicians like Toby Keith and Trace Adkins fill our apartment.

From "You Bring the Distant Near" by Mitali Perkins

Related Words

• dark
• extreme
• great
• hard
• profound
• rich
• strong
• vivid