tone-setter

British

noun

a person or thing that establishes the quality or character that is to be followed subsequently

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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tone-setter

Humbled in Australia, England were badly in need of an attack leader, a reliable tone-setter.

From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026

Coach JJ Redick, who called Smart the team’s tone-setter on defense, commended Smart’s “care factor,” even when the Lakers fell behind by 18 in the second quarter.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 11, 2025

They could sure use their tone-setter down the stretch, providing he doesn’t get kicked out any more.

From Washington Times ● Dec. 12, 2023

So why not be something of a tone-setter?

From Washington Post ● Mar. 30, 2023

Elsewhere, early tone-setter “Sunbeam” plays like a robust true love anthem ready to soundtrack the ending credits of a happy-ending love story.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 15, 2022

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023