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

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

Leto’s grumbling Brit-inflected baritone is an unrecognizable concoction of trilled r’s and plummy vowels — and the best performance he’s done in years.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 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

He started in a strong, rich baritone voice.

From "Gathering Blue" by Lois Lowry

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025

An undercurrent of darkness and portentous mystery courses throughout — evoked by low-stirring reeds, a crisscross of percussionists and drummers, or the band members’ baritones uniting in a chanted chorus.

From New York Times ● Oct. 27, 2020

Given the scarcity of top Verdi and Wagner baritones, Lucas hopes to be hired by bigger and bigger companies.

From Seattle Times ● May 2, 2019

The two baritone players have instruments at home, and Matticks found two older baritones for them use in the short term.

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