How to Use tonal in a Sentence

tonal

adjective
  • There’s a tonal shift in the room.
    — Emily Zemler, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2026
  • The risk in any film like this is tonal.
    — Callum McLennan, Variety, 14 Apr. 2026
  • Here, a guest goes for a tonal look with a pop of red via her clutch.
    — Amanda Le, InStyle, 21 May 2026
  • There’s not a lot of plot; there are so many weird tonal shifts and spoofs.
    — Nolan Feeney, Vulture, 16 Sep. 2021
  • The palette ranges from tonal beige to navy, gray, and black.
    — Andrea Onate, WWD, 16 Jan. 2025
  • The light pink is soft and airy, while the burgundy is rich and tonal.
    — Katherine J Igoe, InStyle, 5 June 2026
  • The first thing to know is that Pierre writes very much in a tonal style.
    — Punch Shaw, star-telegram, 2 Apr. 2018
  • When thinking of Sade, a tonal look comes to mind.
    — Essence, 16 Jan. 2026
  • In the mood for a serving of tonal dressing.
    — Daisy Maldonado, InStyle, 13 Jan. 2026
  • The tonal moment also nods to her past.
    — Maggie Clancy, Footwear News, 18 Oct. 2025
  • The tonal depth in his prints is rich, dense, and moody—not a void but a presence.
    — Rachel Syme, New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2026
  • The tonal whiplash is, at this point, entirely the point.
    — Kevin Dolak, HollywoodReporter, 5 Mar. 2026
  • Meanwhile, her pointy nude slingbacks kept the whole look tonal.
    — Christian Allaire, Vogue, 16 Jan. 2019
  • Why give us such a tonal shift just as the series is coming to a close?
    — Nina Li Coomes, The Atlantic, 15 Oct. 2022
  • There are so many performances in the film that walk tricky tonal tightropes.
    — William Earl, Variety, 8 Aug. 2025
  • The tonal grace of Lalah Hathaway.
    — Shelby Stewart, Essence, 12 Oct. 2025
  • The black leather straps with tonal hardware make these easy to wear with anything.
    — Alyssa Grabinski, Peoplemag, 14 July 2023
  • The tonal look—in cozy shades of brown and camel—was easy and put-together.
    — Christian Allaire, Vogue, 11 Jan. 2021
  • The heels are made from a black smooth napa leather, with a tonal lining and sole.
    — Karla Rodriguez, Footwear News, 27 Feb. 2026
  • Keep things on the tonal side with swirls of black, dark blue, light blue, lavender, and white.
    — Amanda Le, InStyle, 29 June 2026
  • The midway tonal shift of a Scorsese movie.
    — Literary Hub, 12 May 2026
  • This guest took her tonal look up a notch with a pop of faux fur and playful pink accents.
    — Amanda Le, InStyle, 19 Feb. 2026
  • His portraits have a rich tonal range, from the whitest white to grays to the blackest black.
    — Redeat Wondemu, Washington Post, 18 Aug. 2021
  • Oh Breathe new life into tonal outfits by adding a pop of white.
    — Alexis Bennett Parker, Vogue, 3 Oct. 2023
  • What is unexpected is the tonal shift in the last part of the movie.
    — Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 21 Oct. 2020
  • Heel branding is rendered in tonal black, while the sole unit is split with black and red.
    — Ian Servantes, Footwear News, 27 Jan. 2026
  • The genre was also caught in a tonal tussle between light and dark.
    — Richard Edwards, Space.com, 25 July 2025
  • The tonal contrast is one of the coolest denim trends of the season.
    — Kami Phillips, PEOPLE.com, 9 Aug. 2017
  • Go for tonal bursts of color for the most seamless effect.
    — Ariel Wodarcyk, InStyle, 29 May 2026
  • The 10 resulting short films span a wide tonal range.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 19 June 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tonal.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: