as in atonal
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Recent Examples of tuneless
Her aesthetics and tuneless vocals left audiences in awe and laughter.
—
Raquel Willis, Time, 19 June 2025
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
Luka Dončić made his Lakers debut Monday, Feb. 10, in a comfortable home win against the tuneless Utah Jazz.
—Steven Louis Goldstein, The Athletic, 12 Feb. 2025
Fletcher’s thrumming, didgeridoo voice—violently tuneless when singing and melodic in speech—is a counterpoint to Fliakos’s light, almost nasal timbre; Niall Cunningham and Andrew Maillet, as the President’s assistants, are their balancing male pair.
—Helen Shaw, The New Yorker, 13 Apr. 2024
Winfrey’s musical reworking of The Color Purple is essentially tuneless and unpleasant.
—Armond White, National Review, 3 Jan. 2024
For the rest of the film Jenkins uses animation, vintage clips and a lot of interviews to re-create the whole Biz Markie experience: the raspy voice, the tuneless singing, and the love of anything kitschy, catchy and fun.
—Noel Murray, Los Angeles Times, 18 Aug. 2023
That baggy, shambling gang of tuneless no-hopers swept along on the glassy-eyed tide of post-acid house euphoria?
—Jonathan Bernstein, SPIN, 7 June 2023
Raquel Willis, Time, 19 June 2025
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
Luka Dončić made his Lakers debut Monday, Feb. 10, in a comfortable home win against the tuneless Utah Jazz.
—Steven Louis Goldstein, The Athletic, 12 Feb. 2025
Fletcher’s thrumming, didgeridoo voice—violently tuneless when singing and melodic in speech—is a counterpoint to Fliakos’s light, almost nasal timbre; Niall Cunningham and Andrew Maillet, as the President’s assistants, are their balancing male pair.
—Helen Shaw, The New Yorker, 13 Apr. 2024
Winfrey’s musical reworking of The Color Purple is essentially tuneless and unpleasant.
—Armond White, National Review, 3 Jan. 2024
For the rest of the film Jenkins uses animation, vintage clips and a lot of interviews to re-create the whole Biz Markie experience: the raspy voice, the tuneless singing, and the love of anything kitschy, catchy and fun.
—Noel Murray, Los Angeles Times, 18 Aug. 2023
That baggy, shambling gang of tuneless no-hopers swept along on the glassy-eyed tide of post-acid house euphoria?
—Jonathan Bernstein, SPIN, 7 June 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tuneless
Adjective
-
The first concert starts with Ciani’s signature ocean sounds before Cunningham’s chords—dull, glassy—add an atonal sheen.—
Andrew Ryce,
Pitchfork,
9 Apr. 2026
-
Some of it is almost atonal and experimental.—
Steve Appleford,
SPIN,
6 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Warming up, Smith throws back his head and belts Bieber lyrics, joyfully off-key.—
Sam Kestenbaum,
Vulture,
2 Jan. 2026
-
Gran’s butter yellow Cadillac was a welcome surprise in the school carpool line, her slightly off-key singing voice kept me entertained in the church pews on Sunday morning, and her dining room table was the joyful location of many family celebrations.—
Brennan Long,
Southern Living,
29 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
To avoid unpleasant digestive side effects, start by adding 1 tablespoon (or less) to your recipes.—
Kirsten Nunez,
Martha Stewart,
10 Apr. 2026
-
Dahl’s books are fanciful and imaginative, but also dark, cynical, and mean (and, unfortunately, often reflected his real-life ugliness), spinning stories in which gruesome and unpleasant fates befell rotten kids, and adults were frequently selfish, cruel, and not to be trusted.—
Wilson Chapman,
IndieWire,
10 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Another bill would put regulations around data centers, although lawmakers in the final days stripped out some of the language that tech companies found disagreeable.—
Garrett Shanley,
Miami Herald,
13 Mar. 2026
-
The day was cold and disagreeable, disappointing those who hoped for warm, sunny weather for the contest between Bogardus and Carver.—
AJ Willingham,
AJC.com,
24 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
On shrill winter nights, Moscow’s power is conspicuous, its Orthodox cathedrals and Stalinist high-rises illuminated, though the view falls dim in the autumn and spring, shrouded in sheets of greige.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Apr. 2026
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The chaos is still an acceptable price to pay for Birney’s expertly offputting performance, a shrill mania that gets increasingly comic over time.—
Alison Herman,
Variety,
26 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tuneless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tuneless. Accessed 16 Apr. 2026.
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