tone painting
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of tone painting
First recorded in 1900–05
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.
There is experimentation with found-object percussion, and recent Glass touches including colorful texture, expressive shifts in harmony and soundtrack-like tone painting.
From New York Times ● Mar. 31, 2023
And the “Pastoral,” which is easy to read as folk-inspired tone painting, was here more subtly evocative than straightforwardly illustrative.
From New York Times ● Feb. 26, 2020
Instead of piling on the venom with the song, Swift's "Innocent" takes a conciliatory tone, painting him as "32, and still growing up now."
From Reuters ● Oct. 15, 2010
Such tone painting is not surprising, for Harbison's music generally contains a strong theatrical element, reflected in his predilection for opera and song cycle.
From Time Magazine Archive
Bluette is a beautiful piece of tone painting.
From Edward MacDowell by John F. Porte
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.
