From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishfalsettofal‧set‧to /fɔːlˈsetəʊ $ fɒːlˈsetoʊ/ noun (plural falsettos) [countable] APMa very high male voice —falsetto adverb
Examples from the Corpus
falsetto• The first rifle fire came with a falsetto crack.• She commenced an impersonation of Hodges, piping inaudible words in effete falsetto, rolling her eyes like a stage Othello.• He gives me hell in querulous falsetto, and drops down to the dung-hill harem where his claws sink in ... Retrenchments.• Moreover, Morrissey's falsetto wail soars above and beyond the bad music criticism languishing in his lyrics.• Thus he must have been singing falsetto in this role.• The concluding song, Murder in the Market, brings a hilarious stanza sung falsetto when the murderess gives her defiant answer.• Like a bomb the show exploded, the funnies, the falsetto, Timothy himself.Origin falsetto (1700-1800) Italian Latin falsus; → FALSE