keynote

1 of 2

noun

key·​note ˈkē-ˌnōt How to pronounce keynote (audio)
1
: the fundamental or central fact, idea, or mood
sadness is the keynote of this little collectionBooks Abroad
One keynote of his mind has been his interest in deceit, his perceptions about the use of flimflam in modern life …Stanley Kauffmann
2
music : the first and harmonically fundamental tone of a scale
3
: keynote address
Following Tuesday morning's keynote, sessions progress through all areas.Jim Rosenberg
Sprinting from workshops to motivational keynotes featuring famous faces and wannabes, I came away inspired and armed with information …Peggy Klaus

keynote

2 of 2

verb

keynoted; keynoting; keynotes

transitive verb

1
: to deliver the keynote address at
2
: to set the keynote of
keynoter noun

Examples of keynote in a Sentence

Noun Humor is the keynote of the play. the need for a greater sense of self-reliance is the keynote of his self-help message
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
One keynote that resonated deeply with me was by His Excellency Yasir Al-Rumayyan. Mark Minevich, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2024 Scaramucci will give a keynote speech Friday at the Miami Economic Forum, hosted by the Economic Club of Miami. Vinod Sreeharsha, Miami Herald, 1 Feb. 2024 Snippets also showed her at a portage session, where the royal got on the floor to play with special needs children, and the Shaping Us National Symposium at the Design Museum in central London in November, where Kate delivered the keynote speech to experts in the field. Stephanie Petit, Peoplemag, 1 Feb. 2024 Sam’s Club chief merchant Megan Crozier introduced the new feature during a keynote speech at CES 2024, the Consumer Electronics Show, in Las Vegas. Julia Gomez, USA TODAY, 12 Jan. 2024 The evening keynote will be given by Jorge Quiroga, former president of Bolivia. Vinod Sreeharsha, Miami Herald, 31 Jan. 2024 On Monday, just before a string of CES keynotes were set to kick off, the company announced that its Vision Pro headset would be launching on February 2nd. Jay Peters, The Verge, 12 Jan. 2024 A couple of them approached me a few years ago to give the keynote talk at a meeting on my work. Masha Gessen, The New Yorker, 12 Nov. 2023 Or maybe half the keynote will be rendered in the video game Resident Evil Village (naturally made on a Mac). Alex Cranz, The Verge, 29 Oct. 2023
Verb
In November, for instance, Zhora keynoted the popular Cyberwarcon conference of security researchers in Arlington, Virginia. Lily Hay Newman, WIRED, 2 Dec. 2023 Commissioner Mary Boyle of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission will keynote the conference sharing her perspective on the future of federal e-bike regulations, including priorities for lithium ion batteries, bicycle regulations, product certification and rider safety, the release says. Mike Jones, Arkansas Online, 10 Oct. 2023 Biden to keynote symposium on legacy of Truman's order President Joe Biden will be a keynote speaker at a three-day public symposium marking the 75th anniversary of the event, starting Wednesday in Washington, D.C. Marc Ramirez, USA TODAY, 26 July 2023 That was the message of the tech company executives keynoting the annual Open Compute Project Summit, held this week in San Jose, Calif. IEEE Spectrum, 11 Mar. 2016 Sylvester Stallone is set to keynote the Toronto Film Festival as part of the In Conversation With… series where the Rocky and Rambo writer-actor-director will discuss his long Hollywood career, fest organizers said on Monday. Etan Vlessing, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Aug. 2023 After Collins publicly floated the concept in late 2021, the agency took some public steps while defining the project, including holding a workshop in May 2022, keynoted by Collins. Darius Tahir, CBS News, 5 Aug. 2023 Per a news release, the conference will be keynoted by attorney Ben Crump, notable civil rights attorney that helped win a landmark victory settlement for Henrietta Lacks’ family regarding the unauthorized use of her cells. Jasmine Browley, Essence, 18 Aug. 2023 According to a recent announcement, Rae will keynote Black Tech Week, an annual conference focused on equity in tech. Essence, 9 June 2023

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

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1677, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Verb

1877, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of keynote was in 1677

Dictionary Entries Near keynote

Cite this Entry

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

Kids Definition

keynote

1 of 2 noun
key·​note ˈkē-ˌnōt How to pronounce keynote (audio)
1
: the first and harmonically fundamental tone of a scale
2
: the fundamental or central fact, idea, or mood
humor is the keynote of the play

keynote

2 of 2 verb
1
: to set the keynote of
2
: to give the keynote address at
keynoted the convention
keynoter noun

More from Merriam-Webster on keynote

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