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Meaning & use

sing-songy voice

phrase·Everydayinformal

Last updated

UK/ˈsɪŋ sɒŋi vɔɪs/
US/ˈsɪŋ sɔːŋi vɔɪs/

“sing-songy voice” is a form of “sing-songy”.

Meanings

  1. phrasecountableinformal

    A way of speaking in which the pitch rises and falls in a repeated, musical way.

    Grammar: Used as a countable noun phrase: a sing-songy voice, in a sing-songy voice.

    Patterns

    • in a sing-songy voice
    • speak in a sing-songy voice
    • a sing-songy voice

    The teacher read the poem in a sing-songy voice that made the children laugh.

    He answered the phone in a sing-songy voice, as if he were announcing a circus.

    Her sing-songy voice rose at the end of every sentence, so everything sounded like a question.

  2. phrasecountabledisapprovinginformal

    A tone that sounds annoyingly repetitive or childish, with a fixed up-and-down rhythm.

    Grammar: Often used with a disapproving meaning when the rhythm seems fake or mocking.

    Patterns

    • in that sing-songy voice
    • a mocking sing-songy voice

    Don't use that sing-songy voice with me — I'm not a child.

    She repeated his words back in a sing-songy voice, which only made him angrier.

Common combinations

in a sing-songy voice
She greeted us in a sing-songy voice.
a high sing-songy voice
A high sing-songy voice came from the next room.
speak in a sing-songy voice
He tends to speak in a sing-songy voice when he is nervous.
a sing-songy tone
Her sing-songy tone made the warning sound like a nursery rhyme.

Synonyms and how they differ

musical
A more approving word for a pleasant, tuneful sound; it does not suggest the repetitive or childish quality of sing-songy.
chanting
Describes a steady repeated rhythm, often of many voices together, rather than one person's rising and falling pitch.
lilting
A literary word for a pleasant rising and falling sound, especially of an accent or a song.

Opposites

flatmonotone

Word family

sing-song noun
A repeated rising and falling rhythm in speech or song.
sing-songy adjective
The adjective form: a sing-songy way of talking.

Commonly confused: sing-songy voice or singing voice?

sing-songy voice vs singing voice

A singing voice is a voice used for actual songs; a sing-songy voice is a speaking voice with a musical up-and-down pattern.

Practice

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