intone
Americanverb (used with object)
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intones,
present (3rd person singular)
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intoned,
past participle, past
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intoning
present participle
-
to utter with a particular tone or voice modulation.
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to give tone or variety of tone to; vocalize.
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to utter in a singing voice (the first tones of a section in a liturgical service).
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to recite or chant in monotone.
verb (used without object)
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intones,
present (3rd person singular)
-
intoned,
past participle, past
-
intoning
present participle
-
to speak or recite in a singing voice, especially in monotone; chant.
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Music. to produce a tone, or a particular series of tones, like a scale, especially with the voice.
verb
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to utter, recite, or sing (a chant, prayer, etc) in a monotonous or incantatory tone
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(intr) to speak with a particular or characteristic intonation or tone
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to sing (the opening phrase of a psalm, etc) in plainsong
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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intonesimple
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intonessimple
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have intonedperfect
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has intonedperfect
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am intoningprogressive
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are intoningprogressive
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is intoningprogressive
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have been intoningperfect progressive
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has been intoningperfect progressive
Past
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intonedsimple
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had intonedperfect
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was intoningprogressive
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were intoningprogressive
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had been intoningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of intone
1475–85; < Medieval Latin intonāre; replacing earlier entone < Middle French entoner < Medieval Latin; see in- 2, tone
Explanation
To intone is to to chant in a flat voice. When you recite a poem you had to memorize in English class, you're likely to intone the lines without much expression. You might intone bad news over the phone, bluntly and unemotionally, and librarians often intone a low command to keep the noise down in the library. People reciting prayers usually intone them as well. In the fourteenth century, the word was entunen, "sing, chant or recite," from a Latin root, intonare, "sing according to tone."
Vocabulary lists containing intone
Number the Stars
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Bless Me, Ultima
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Purple Hibiscus
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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.
See Examples For:
Those are the first words of the military Oath of Enlistment—the words that new members of the military, with right hands raised, intone as they join the service.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 29, 2026
“The answer is always yes,” she’d intone when I’d call.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 2024
The singers intone the text quickly while sliding downward with their voices, or hold long, clear notes that blossom into brief melismas.
From New York Times ● May 25, 2023
Akbar ceased performing the obligatory five prayers that Muslims must intone every day and began to worship “divine light.”
From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022
See how smart she was, she seems to intone as she compares the picture to my father.
From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan
"Holiday let, second home, second home, holiday let, second home, holiday let," she intones.
From BBC ● Feb. 25, 2026
“It is as if the demands of his spirit were too extreme for flesh and blood,” Ms. Marcus intones.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025
“If you come just for the mozzarella sticks, like, I wouldn’t judge you,” one TikTokker intones in an April 2024 video that’s been viewed 6.5 million times.
From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2025
“I love how you don’t do anything for me,” she intones, indicating the nature of their relationship, and providing a sense of the film’s dry, deadpan humor.
From Salon ● Dec. 26, 2024
"It is both a time for repentance and a time for thanks," intones the mayor.
From "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
"It's going to be he and I going to November," Bianco intoned at a recent televised debate, nodding towards Hilton.
From Barron's ● May 5, 2026
“Before we start the show, I want to let you know something that I found out just last night,” intoned the veteran comedian.
From Slate ● Jul. 18, 2025
He was joined on stage by the song's producer, Mustard, who clutched a football while sporting the world's baggiest jeans - before Lamar pointed an imaginary remote control at the camera and intoned, "Game Over".
From BBC ● Feb. 9, 2025
“Our patron saints and guardian angels, pray for us,” they intoned together.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 11, 2025
A prayer was said, a hymn sung; Leah intoned a series of questions to begin their conversation with the dead.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
It was an unusual mission for Avraamiy, whose days are usually filled with intoning prayers, counseling his flock and leading the clergymen from the Orthodox Church of Ukraine at the monastery.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
If You're Glad I'll Be Frank imagined the speaking clock as a real woman speaking live, her internal monologue utterly at odds with the deadening repetitiveness of endlessly intoning "at the third stroke..."
From BBC ● Nov. 29, 2025
He invokes family and faith, joined by Michael Stipe from R.E.M. intoning, “Oh me, oh my”; it’s thick with atmosphere and memory, offering no conclusions.
From New York Times ● Jan. 13, 2023
In the background came a bubbly '70s voice, intoning catchy lyrics: "This old mop makes me shake; that old vacuum makes me ache; this old rag draa-aaa-aaags me down."
From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2022
They were intoning what they called “the resonant frequency of the universe.”
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
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.
