falsetto

1 of 2

noun

fal·​set·​to fȯl-ˈse-(ˌ)tō How to pronounce falsetto (audio)
plural falsettos
1
: an artificially high voice
especially : an artificially produced singing voice that overlaps and extends above the range of the full voice especially of a tenor
2
: a singer who uses falsetto

falsetto

2 of 2

adverb

: in falsetto

Examples of falsetto in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
And their falsetto was so good that for most of the season the judges were convinced a woman must be hiding in the Dolls, and this performance did nothing to dissuade them from that line of thinking. Lauren Huff, EW.com, 4 Jan. 2024 The grandiosity of the song’s production — built almost exclusively around Moody’s sultry guitar — evokes the most stirring of James Bond themes, while the duo’s expansive combine vocal ranges trade off fluttery falsettos with robust full-voice crooning. Kyle Denis, Billboard, 20 Feb. 2024 Michael’s thrilling falsetto actually places his range higher than Tanya’s. Nancy Kruh, Peoplemag, 26 Jan. 2024 But then the 45-year-old singer breaks into a falsetto, and, suddenly, you’re sucked into the Usherverse, a realm where nothing matters except pure entertainment and thrills. Clover Hope, Pitchfork, 12 Feb. 2024 Best known as one of the guitarists and falsetto vocalists of the legendary surf rock group, Foskett was a studio and touring musician of the band since the early ‘80s. Sadie Bell, Peoplemag, 13 Dec. 2023 Right around this time, Carl Wilson took a break from the Beach Boys to focus on his solo career, and Love, who saw similarities to Carl’s falsetto in Foskett, invited him into the group to fill the void. Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 11 Dec. 2023 From its 1974 debut album to 2015, when the band played a farewell show at the Forum, Rush was the standard-bearer for elaborate, multi-part songs full of falsetto hollers, time signature changes and drum solos. Rob Tannenbaum, Los Angeles Times, 13 Nov. 2023 But her sung falsettos bear the ache of someone undone by their own needfulness. Pitchfork, 4 Dec. 2023
Adverb
The Neighbourhood The Neighbourhood knows how to pair a high-flying falsetto vocal with a gut-rumbling low-end synth line. John Adamian, courant.com, 18 June 2018 Across those three tracks, Timberlake fashioned a new sound with the Neptunes, the production duo of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, shedding his pop-singer sheen for dirty drums, falsetto vocal runs, and, notably, guitar. Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, 14 Mar. 2018 Fats Domino announced himself with this single: a two-fisted boogie-woogie piano intro with tremolo flourishes, verses that establish his 200-pound physique and his New Orleans locale and a falsetto vocal like a trumpet solo. Jon Pareles, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2017

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

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Italian, from diminutive of falso false, from Latin falsus

First Known Use

Noun

1721, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adverb

1940, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of falsetto was in 1721

Dictionary Entries Near falsetto

Cite this Entry

“Falsetto.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/falsetto. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

falsetto

noun
fal·​set·​to
fȯl-ˈset-ō
plural falsettos
: an artificially high voice

More from Merriam-Webster on falsetto

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