unmusical
adjective
un·mu·si·cal
ˌən-ˈmyü-zi-kəl 
: not musical: such as
a
: not musical in nature : harsh, discordant
an unmusical voice
the unmusical call of the bluejay
b
: not gifted in or appreciative of music
Both Dick and Carolyn were married, to unmusical spouses …—
John Updike
John Updike
unmusically
adverb
… a traveller on foot, who walked with a light quick step, and sang as he went—for certain in a very loud voice, but not unmusically.
—Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Examples of unmusical in a Sentence
a very unmusical chorus of squawks from the angry ravens
Recent Examples on the Web
Those songs remind Omara of real people and real events, political interludes whose senselessness and brutality have left unmusical lacunae in her life.
—Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 18 Dec. 2023
His parents were unmusical Russian-Jewish immigrants who ran various businesses with mixed success.
—The Economist, 3 Oct. 2019
Paradoxically, then, the man most involved in the development of the electric guitar was the unmusical Leo Fender.
—David Kirby, WSJ, 17 Jan. 2019
The controversy of Schoenberg’s serialist works—the overwhelming reaction to them as ugly, nightmarish, simply unmusical—shows how firmly tonality had come to condition habits of listening.
—Paul Grimstad, The New Republic, 21 June 2018
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Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 18 Dec. 2023
His parents were unmusical Russian-Jewish immigrants who ran various businesses with mixed success.
—The Economist, 3 Oct. 2019
Paradoxically, then, the man most involved in the development of the electric guitar was the unmusical Leo Fender.
—David Kirby, WSJ, 17 Jan. 2019
The controversy of Schoenberg’s serialist works—the overwhelming reaction to them as ugly, nightmarish, simply unmusical—shows how firmly tonality had come to condition habits of listening.
—Paul Grimstad, The New Republic, 21 June 2018
Cite this Entry
“Unmusical.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unmusical. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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