subtonic

S1U1B3T1O1N1I1C3

adjective

Of or pertaining to imperfectly articulated sounds or utterances that are inaudible or barely audible, as characterized by Dr. James Rush (Guide to Pronunciation, 1833).

Similar
leading tone
OriginEnglish tonic ← Ancient Greek τονῐκός (tonĭkós) ← Latin sub- →
Scrabble 12
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

adjectivesubtonic (not comparable)
  1. datednot comparablehuman sciencesOf or pertaining to imperfectly articulated sounds or utterances that are inaudible or barely audible, as characterized by Dr. James Rush (Guide to Pronunciation, 1833).
nounsubtonic (plural subtonics)

plural subtonics

  1. entertainmentThe note immediately below the upper note of a musical scale.
  2. datedhuman sciencesAn imperfectly articulated sound or utterance, as characterized by Dr. James Rush (Guide to Pronunciation, 1833).

Synonyms & antonyms

noun(music) the seventh note of the diatonic scale

Similar
leading tone
Broader
notemusical notetone
Also see
leading tone

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinsub
  2. Latinsub-
  3. Englishsub-
  4. Ancient Greekτονῐκός (tonĭkós)
  5. Englishtonic
  6. Englishsubtonic

From sub- + tonic.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

subtonic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/subtonic

MLA

“subtonic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/subtonic. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “subtonic,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/subtonic.

Source: subtonic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.