falsetto
/fɔːlˈsɛtəʊ
/ /fɒlˈsɛtəʊ/noun (plural falsettos) Music
1A method of voice production used by male singers, especially tenors, to sing notes higher than their normal range: he sang in a piercing falsetto...
- In Cyrus's version, his words are backed up in the chorus and briefly in the third verse by two male voices singing in a falsetto.
- Stout and scruffy, the 36-year-old Daniels looks more suited to a football field than La Fenice, but as a countertenor, the highest male voice in opera, he sings in a falsetto.
- I found that when I sang falsetto, I could tune my voice more and control it.
1.1A singer using the falsetto method of voice production.One second he's a falsetto, the next he's a baritone.
1.2A voice or sound that is unusually high: Philip answered in a prim falsetto [as modifier]: a falsetto voice...
- Marcia tells Marty that she loves his falsetto, and asked why he didn't do more of it.
- Smith takes more vocal chances on Hill, giving us his bright falsetto often and almost without apology - almost.
- It was the job of the Designated Safety Officer to read us the half-sheet of safety instructions, in his best falsetto, and ensure that we violated none of them.
Origin
Late 18th century: from Italian, diminutive of falso 'false', from Latin falsus (see false).