Device and Tone

Device

Device noun - A clever often underhanded means to achieve an end.

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Tone and device are semantically related. In some cases you can use "Tone" instead a noun "Device".

Tone noun - A distinctive way of putting ideas into words.

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Device and tone are semantically related. Sometimes you can use "Device" instead a noun "Tone".

Nearby Words: toneless, toned, toning, tonal

similar	similar device	similar tone
single	single device	single tone
actual	actual device	actual tone
new	new device	new tone
Other adjectives: dramatic, comedic.

The framing device of Ricky and Steve asking Karl about his travels was similar in tone to their conversations on The Ricky Gervais Show.

Source: Clip Show
Every once in a while on Negativland's "Over the Edge" weekly show on KPFA, this gets played on a DTMF tone generator (a device that creates the sounds heard on telephone touch-tone dial pads).

Source: Mocking Sing-Song
This suggests that the increasingly serious tone and likewise decrease in jokes is more an intentional device of the writer and not a direct consequence of the trope.

Source: First Law of Tragicomedies

Cite this Source

Tone and Device. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 22, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/device/tone

Device & Tone. N.p., 2016. Web. 22 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/device/tone>.

Tone or Device. 2016. Accessed July 22, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/device/tone.

Google Ngram Viewer shows how "device" and "tone" have occurred on timeline