How to Use tone-deaf in a Sentence
tone-deaf
adjective-
But Met Gala was a tone-deaf charade of excess and hypocrisy.
—Jane Onyanga-Omara, USA TODAY, 8 May 2024
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It’s lined with palm trees that always seem out of place to me, tone-deaf in their presence.
—Hazlitt, 28 June 2022
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Meek Mill is not the only rapper to share his opinion on the tone-deaf statement.
—Demicia Inman, VIBE.com, 16 Aug. 2024
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But that should be no excuse for appearing to sound so tone-deaf.
—Dan Perry, Newsweek, 13 Feb. 2025
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Negishi’s death was announced this week, at the age of 100, which means a century of making the world a louder, more tone-deaf place.
—Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 16 Mar. 2024
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This is an offensive and tone-deaf gesture that holds the people in contempt.
—Town & Country, 6 May 2023
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This is yet another tone-deaf slap in the face from our out-of-touch public utilities.
—Edmund H. Mahony, Hartford Courant, 12 Nov. 2024
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Left-leaning users have called the campaign’s posts tone-deaf in light of the ongoing atrocities in Gaza.
—Makena Kelly, WIRED, 24 Feb. 2024
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Lavender went on a listening tour with customers, who were quick to share that Intel had been tone-deaf.
—Fortune Editors, Fortune, 5 June 2024
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Plus the Mavs tone-deaf attempts to justify the trade keep making everything worse.
—Zach Harper, The Athletic, 19 Feb. 2025
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At the time, many users thought that Kalil’s video was insensitive and tone-deaf, given the fact that a pro-Palestinian protest had been taking place near the gala.
—Bruna Horvath, NBC News, 17 Jan. 2025
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Sure, the new ad is tone-deaf — after all, Apple rose to prominence by aligning itself with creative types.
—Elizabeth Lopatto, The Verge, 9 May 2024
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Many commentators criticized the flight as a tone-deaf stunt or a rich person's flex.
—ArsTechnica, 22 Apr. 2025
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Josh McDaniels must’ve been tone-deaf and inept, judging by the gusto Raiders players have shown since his dismissal.
—Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Dec. 2023
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The way forward is not to abandon liberalism, but to save it—from its worst excesses, its blind spots, and its tone-deaf elites.
—MSNBC Newsweek, 20 May 2025
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Some critics say the process leading up to the vote has lacked transparency and, more directly, that the regulator is tone-deaf to the plight of motorists.
—Rob Nikolewski, The Mercury News, 4 Nov. 2024
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According to a 1968 Times report, MacRae was originally cast to play a tone-deaf lounge singer for a single episode.
—Malia Mendez, Los Angeles Times, 30 May 2024
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Meanwhile, those record revenues make the timing of loyalty program changes feel even more tone-deaf.
—Roger Dooley, Forbes.com, 25 June 2025
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The commenters had an absolute field day with what many view as a tone-deaf and retrogressive fashion shoot.
—Kathleen Walsh, Glamour, 28 Nov. 2023
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To some who identify as huge fans of Swift – presumably the group being courted – the outcry is both tone-deaf and flattering.
—Andre Mouchard, Orange County Register, 4 Feb. 2024
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His comments went viral, drawing sharp criticism online from people who saw the remarks as tone-deaf and out of touch.
—Brian Cattell, Forbes.com, 7 May 2025
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The character’s history is silly, tone-deaf, and rife with stereotypes.
—Darren Franich, Vulture, 14 Feb. 2025
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Rachel Zegler is hardly white as snow and, worse, she’s been one of the most notoriously tone-deaf Hollywood stars during her press tour for the film.
—Erik Kain, Forbes, 4 Dec. 2024
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The jarring split-screen reality is one that is arriving at perhaps the most tone-deaf moment so far of Trump’s second term.
—Philip Elliott, Time, 11 June 2025
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Though Racquel told them all about her good memories of this beach, Ubah is already pitching another tone-deaf fit.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 7 Jan. 2025
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The big picture: A lot of viewers see the ad as a tone-deaf portrait of how AI could suck the humanity out of a tradition — the fan note — that's supposed to be handwritten and heartfelt.
—Megan Morrone, Axios, 2 Aug. 2024
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These two examples show how tone-deaf marketing can destroy trust.
—Angelique Kuiper, Rolling Stone, 5 Mar. 2025
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To some people, this preoccupation with horror can seem tone-deaf.
—Sarah Kollat, Discover Magazine, 25 Oct. 2024
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The tone-deaf response by college students and left-wing activists has been matched by statements from the halls of power that are equally callous toward Palestinian lives.
—TIME, 14 Oct. 2023
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For her first appearance in the popular sketch, Carpenter took on Ariana Grande's role as the tone-deaf bestie singing at a couple's vow renewal.
—Emily Tannenbaum, Glamour, 17 Feb. 2025
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tone-deaf.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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