baritone
Americannoun
-
a male voice or voice part intermediate between tenor and bass.
-
a singer with such a voice.
-
a large, valved brass instrument shaped like a trumpet or coiled in oval form, used especially in military bands.
adjective
noun
-
the second lowest adult male voice, having a range approximately from G an eleventh below middle C to F a fourth above it
-
a singer with such a voice
-
the second lowest instrument in the families of the saxophone, horn, oboe, etc
adjective
-
relating to or denoting a baritone
a baritone part
-
denoting the second lowest instrument in a family
the baritone horn
Other Word Forms
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."
Vocabulary lists containing baritone
Blood on the River
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Musical Instruments - Introductory
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Musical Instruments - Middle School
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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.
As the Court Poet, baritone Brian Major enlists the Stranger into the storytelling—their eerie duet as the voice of the evil fairy Carabosse is a striking musical moment.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026
Backed by a big, throwback live band, “Lost Me” beautifully papered over a failed relationship with an uncertain young bravado; “Backup Plan” gave his one-of-kind baritone room to roam and plead.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2026
His melodic baritone filled millions of households with tales of Southerners and soph-ah-mores, with praise for the “big uglies” and proclamations of “Hello, Heisman.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 1, 2026
Firas Al-Faqir, an actor with a baritone voice, initially supported the protests against the Assad regime and signed an artists’ statement calling for government reforms.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 29, 2025
“Hey, bhuti, how was the flight?” he said in a deep baritone voice.
From "The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates" by Wes Moore
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.
