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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

tone police en · VERB

Meanings

  1. (derogatory, slang) To complain about the tone of one or more participants in a debate or discussion, especially one perceived as heated, disrespectful, etc.
    • Many white women will tone police, dominate conversation, and then when challenged follow the following playbook[…] 2017, Fobazi M. Ettarh, “Equality is not Pie; Libraries and the Insidiousness of Subtle Racism”, in fobaziettarh.com:
    • When his commenters try to tone-police him, [Hasan] Piker will often single one of them out and say, “Congratulations, chatter, you’ve won Woke of the Day.” It’s not a compliment. 2025 March 17, Andrew Marantz, “The Battle for the Bros”, in The New Yorker, →ISSN:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
tone polices Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
tone policed Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
tone policed Tense=Past lexicographic
tone policing Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic

Relateds

tone policing

Translations (1)

ja トーン・ポリース (to complain about the tone of discussion participants)