as in tuneless
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Recent Examples of atonal
Gradually, the music mutates into something more alien: off-key chiming of a clock, percussive piano clanking and plucking, atonal saxophone solos that sound as if an instrument is being dropped.
—
Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 27 Feb. 2025
Right from the start, there’s a neo-noir like feel to Gerster’s suspenseful portrait, accentuated by its atonal and slightly disconcerting score.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 16 Feb. 2025
The atmosphere is enhanced by the hand-in-hand elements of Damian Volpe’s heavy soundscape and Robin Carolan’s moody score, which ranges from symphonic grandeur to agitato strings, pipes and horns specific to the region at that time to queasy atonal groans.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 2 Dec. 2024
Ives’s legendary status initially rested on his reputation as a maverick pioneer who supposedly had beaten Schoenberg in the race to the atonal pole.
—Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 4 Nov. 2024
See All Example Sentences for atonal
Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 27 Feb. 2025
Right from the start, there’s a neo-noir like feel to Gerster’s suspenseful portrait, accentuated by its atonal and slightly disconcerting score.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 16 Feb. 2025
The atmosphere is enhanced by the hand-in-hand elements of Damian Volpe’s heavy soundscape and Robin Carolan’s moody score, which ranges from symphonic grandeur to agitato strings, pipes and horns specific to the region at that time to queasy atonal groans.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 2 Dec. 2024
Ives’s legendary status initially rested on his reputation as a maverick pioneer who supposedly had beaten Schoenberg in the race to the atonal pole.
—Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 4 Nov. 2024
See All Example Sentences for atonal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for atonal
Adjective
-
Her aesthetics and tuneless vocals left audiences in awe and laughter.—
Raquel Willis,
Time,
19 June 2025
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For the rest of us, a real musical comedy is a cause for celebration; most are either too tuneless to be musicals or too dull to be comedies.—
Jesse Green,
New York Times,
11 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Considering that Rebecca and Noah’s mom, Bina (Tovah Feldshuh), came off as equally unpleasant, Foster, Konner, and Kaplan kind of had to retool the character.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
23 Oct. 2025
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Despite being so unpleasant, hemorrhoid complications are surprisingly common.—
Daryl Austin,
USA Today,
21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Over the weekend, reports emerged that the higher tariffs followed a disagreeable Thursday phone call between Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter and Trump — which Swiss officials rejected, according to Reuters.—
Sophie Kiderlin,Jenni Reid,
CNBC,
4 Aug. 2025
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Trump and his supporters prefer a happy history, a pleasant history that arouses patriotism by overlooking disagreeable people and despicable events that sully the nation’s reputation and mar the magnificence of the American story.—
William C. Hine,
Twin Cities,
23 July 2025
Adjective
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The sketch centers on Kelsey (Chloe Fineman), whose affair with Domingo (Marcello Hernandez) is revealed to her husband, Matt (Andrew Dismukes), via a group of off-key girl friends.—
Ted Johnson,
Deadline,
18 Oct. 2025
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Singing off-key, dancing around, and grabbing a slice of pizza before heading out kept her in high spirits.—
Larry Stansbury,
Essence,
19 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Don’t underestimate the power of classic shapes—like a set of metallic orbs in varying sizes.—
Audrey Lee,
Architectural Digest,
21 Oct. 2025
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In her case, Taylor went for gold in a metallic body-con dress, paired with Rainbow K jewelry.—
Renan Botelho,
Footwear News,
21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
The country twang of her Nashville origins has been replaced with sonorous synths, and in the case of Showgirl, a throwback to the retro electric guitar sound of her bestselling 2014 album 1989.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
20 Oct. 2025
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The work contains sonorous bouts of sorrow, but rage is its primary register.—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
6 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Atonal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/atonal. Accessed 28 Oct. 2025.
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