chromatic Hear it!

chromatic Definition

chro·matic (krō mat′ik)

adjective

  1. of color or having color or colors
  2. highly colored
  3. Biol. readily stained
  4. Music
    1. using or progressing by semitones a chromatic scale
    2. producing all the tones of such a scale a chromatic instrument
    3. using tones not in the key of a work chromatic harmony

Etymology: LL chromaticus < Gr chrōmatikos, suited for color: see chroma & -atic

noun

Music a tone modified by an accidental

chromatic Related Forms
chro·mat′i·cally adverb chro·mat′i·cism′ (-ə siz′əm) noun
chromatic Usage Examples

Modifies a noun

  • aberration: I also looked into the immense size of chromatic aberration in the human eye.
  • harmonica: Complete with solo and accompanied pieces, this book is suitable for all diatonic and chromatic harmonicas.
  • tuner: And its easy to see and use built-in auto chromatic tuner helps keep you in tune without having to use an external device.
  • polynomial: I shall discuss recent developments in the ' transfer matrix ' method for calculating chromatic polynomials of families of graphs.
  • harmony: The theme is first stated over a somewhat ambiguous chromatic harmony in the home key of D minor.
  • scale: I may also have used about 11 of the 12 possible notes of the chromatic scale.

Modifying Another Word

  • fully: Up to fourteen keys could be fitted making it fully chromatic from low E to high c# .
  • highly: It is tonal and highly chromatic, not coming across as old-fashioned.