Tonto
noun
a federally recognized tribe of Apache people of Arizona.
Tonto
1 American
[tahn-toh]
/ ˈtɑn toʊ /
noun
-
Tontos
plural
-
a federally recognized tribe of Apache people of Arizona.
-
the Apache language of a federally recognized tribe of Arizona.
tonto
2
American
[tahn-toh]
/ ˈtɑn toʊ /
noun
-
tontos
plural
adjective
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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:
The pair devised an instrument they called Tonto, a 12-foot-long collection of synthesizer modules connected by cables—“the finest of Rube Goldberg machines.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
Van der Werf said that she was denied entry at the Tonto National Monument, Saguaro National Park and Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Arizona, according to the lawsuit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 20, 2024
Gila County authorities said search and rescue crews were dispatched Wednesday morning after county authorities received a 911 call about a pickup truck found in Tonto Creek.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 24, 2023
“Given current drought conditions and the ‘very high’ fire danger level, it is too risky for these activities,” said Taiga Rohrer, fire management officer for the Tonto National Forest.
From Washington Times ● Apr. 30, 2022
When The Lone Ranger came to television, she would watch it just to see Jay Silverheels, the actor who played Tonto.
From "Bad Boy" by Walter Dean Myers
And because tonto production takes place outside official purview, authorities are unable to collect revenue from its sale.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 1, 2024
The event is so important in the family’s routine that they can’t imagine a time when there would no tonto to sell.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 1, 2024
Folk singers have crooned about it, politicians seeking a common touch take a sip when hunting for votes, and traditional ceremonies terminate at dusk with tonto parties.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 1, 2024
"I certainly think he has gone full tonto," Wallace said.
From Reuters ● Feb. 25, 2022
The supposed derivation of Tonto from Spanish tonto, "fool," is mentioned, elsewhere.
From Archeological Expedition to Arizona in 1895 Seventeenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1895-1896, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1898, pages 519-744 by Jesse Walter Fewkes
"And now Willett has lost his, and presumably the Tontos, or perhaps the Apache-Mohaves, have got it!"
From Tonio, Son of the Sierras A Story of the Apache War by Charles J. Post
The Tontos were ten miles behind us, Ned, my boy, when we left Snow Lake, and are farther away now.
From Sunset Pass or Running the Gauntlet Through Apache Land by Charles King
They'd had a scrimmage with Tontos, they said, but got through safely, barring just this one—'Tonio they called him—said he was a chief of the old tribe.
From Tonio, Son of the Sierras A Story of the Apache War by Charles J. Post
The Comanches feather their arrows with two feathers; the Navajos, Utes and all Apaches, except the Tontos, have three feathers--the Tontos using four feathers for each shaft.
Yet some few bucks drifted off to the Tontos, and the agent's been raising a row because so many of them roost down here instead of staying on the reservation, bringing in game.
From Tonio, Son of the Sierras A Story of the Apache War by Charles J. Post
I started up, willing to observe whatever might be visible, or have the satisfaction of showing them what tontos they were.
From Mexico Its Ancient and Modern Civilisation, History, Political Conditions, Topography, Natural Resources, Industries and General Development by Martin Hume
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.
