undertone

Definition

An auditory tone of low pitch or volume.

Etymology

From under- + tone.

Example Sentences

• "Did he and his master converse? Watt had never heard them do so, as he surely would have done, if they had done so. In an undertone perhaps. Yes, perhaps they conversed in undertones, the master and the servant, in two undertones, the master's undertone, the servant's undertone."
• "They gathered soberly in the farthest recess of the ward and gossiped about him in malicious, offended undertones, rebelling against his presence as a ghastly imposition and resenting him malevolently for the nauseating truth of which he was bright reminder."
• "Sedentary occupations are likely to result in undertone, and this undertone not being relieved by physiological means, constipation is a probable outcome."