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

Tanter, who provided the smooth, baritone soundtrack for Lakers home games for 43 seasons, suffered a stroke on March 17 and missed the final six regular-season home games and the playoffs last season.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

As T.O.P's unmistakable baritone echoed through the stadium via recorded vocals, a visible wave of emotion swept across the crowd.

From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026

A high-profile Japanese anime voice actor has taken TikTok to court over videos he says feature an artificial intelligence clone of his "lustrous" baritone, with a verdict due on Wednesday.

From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026

Like the Copland, it pays tribute to a historical figure in his own words, though in this case with a baritone soloist, rather than a narrator.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

The sixteenth president of the United States of America did not, as you might imagine, speak in a rich chocolaty baritone.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025

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

It was a really sensitive thing, because Verdi baritones aren’t normally pursuing this role as early as I did, and if it hadn’t worked out I definitely would have put it away.

From New York Times ● Jan. 6, 2022

That means Matticks only lost a few drum sets, a piano, a keyboard, several guitars and a couple baritones along with the music materials.

From Washington Times ● Jan. 28, 2018

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