vocal

[ voh-kuhl ]

/ ˈvoʊ kəl /

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See synonyms for: vocal / vocals on Thesaurus.com

adjective

of, relating to, or uttered with the voice: the vocal mechanism; vocal criticism.

rendered by or intended for singing: vocal music.

having a voice: A dog is a vocal, but not a verbal, being.

giving forth sound with or as with a voice.

inclined to express oneself in words, especially copiously or insistently: a vocal advocate of reform.

Phonetics.

noun

a vocal sound.

a musical piece for a singer, usually with instrumental accompaniment.Compare instrumental (def. 6).

OTHER WORDS FOR vocal

5 vociferous, outspoken.

See synonyms for vocal on Thesaurus.com

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Origin of vocal

1350–1400; Middle English <Latin vōcālis, equivalent to vōc- (stem of vōx) voice + -ālis-al¹

OTHER WORDS FROM vocal

vo·cal·i·ty

[voh-kal-i-tee], /voʊˈkæl ɪ ti/, vo·cal·ness, nounvo·cal·ly, adverbnon·vo·cal, adjective, nounnon·vo·cal·ly, adverb

non·vo·cal·ness, nounnon·vo·cal·i·ty, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use vocal in a sentence

There’s a confessional quality to this number, not only because members of the group co-wrote it — the band co-wrote the entire album — but because BTS’s gorgeous vocals are often the melodic equivalent of an ASMR session.
BTS’s new album is sublime comfort pop for the soul in lockdown|Aja Romano|November 20, 2020|Vox
These alterations include the loss of a gene involved in the development of the vocal tract, possibly influencing passerines’ songs.
Hundreds of new genomes help fill the bird ‘tree of life’|Jake Buehler|November 17, 2020|Science News
He’s a vocal supporter of the second amendment and, as he told the New York Times in 2015, he sometimes carries a gun because he has an office in “a questionable part of town.”
Why People Are Mad at Alton Brown and Why Alton Brown Is Mad at Newsweek, Explained|Elazar Sontag|November 11, 2020|Eater
Citing rising coronavirus cases nationwide and in the Washington area — as well as what they call insufficient safety measures — some vocal teachers’ associations have urged school officials to keep classes online for the rest of the academic year.
Fauquier County Public Schools returns majority of students to classrooms|Hannah Natanson|November 9, 2020|Washington Post

Gloria, long regarded as a champion of transit – although he supported a 2016 tax measure that included freeway projects and was a far cry from Ikhrata’s vision – has been a vocal supporter of the new plan.
San Diego Is a Big City – Todd Gloria Wants it to Act Like One|Andrew Keatts|November 6, 2020|Voice of San Diego
The exercises for the radical stress should be first aspirated, then repeated with full vocality.
The Ontario Readers: The High School Reader, 1886|Ministry of Education
Impure vocality, it is true, has its own appropriate use, in the representation of certain emotional states of the mind.
The Ontario Readers: The High School Reader, 1886|Ministry of Education
Should any breath be spent in aspiration, or in hissing, or in guttural enunciation, the vocality is said to be impure.
The Ontario Readers: The High School Reader, 1886|Ministry of Education
This, pitched on a flat and haughty level of vocality, was her method of opening the conversation.
Little Miss Grouch|Samuel Hopkins Adams
Somehow that awful vocality and the hardly less agonizing accompaniment had to be paid for.
The Beggar's Purse|Samuel Hopkins Adams

British Dictionary definitions for vocal

vocal

/ (ˈvəʊkəl) /

adjective

of, relating to, or designed for the voicevocal music

produced or delivered by the voicevocal noises

connected with an attribute or the production of the voicevocal organs

frequently disposed to outspoken speech, criticism, etca vocal minority

full of sound or voicesa vocal assembly

endowed with a voice

eloquent or meaningful

phonetics

of or relating to a speech sound
of or relating to a voiced speech sound, esp a vowel

noun

a piece of jazz or pop music that is sung

a performance of such a piece of music

Derived forms of vocal

vocality (vəʊˈkælɪtɪ), nounvocally, adverb

Word Origin for vocal

C14: from Latin vōcālis possessed of a voice, from vōx voice

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

Medical definitions for vocal

vocal

[ vō′kəl ]

adj.

Of or relating to the voice.

Capable of emitting sound or speech.

vocal

OTHER WORDS FOR vocal

Origin of vocal

OTHER WORDS FROM vocal

Words related to vocal

How to use vocal in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for vocal

Derived forms of vocal

Word Origin for vocal

Medical definitions for vocal