tuneless

adjective

Definition of tunelessnext
as in atonal

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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 Winfrey’s musical reworking of The Color Purple is essentially tuneless and unpleasant. — Armond White, National Review, 3 Jan. 2024 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
  1. atonal
  2. off-key
  3. unpleasant
  4. disagreeable
  5. shrill
Adjective
  • There are atonal jabs, and there are jazz flourishes, and there’s kind of a deeply romantic strain running through it as well.
    — Chris Willman, Variety, 29 July 2026
  • 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
Definition of atonal
Adjective
  • Should you ever get distracted by such off-key turns, however, the film is quick to directly remind you which other movies it’s supposed to remind you of.
    — Guy Lodge, Variety, 18 June 2026
  • Nilsson’s watercolors complemented the work of the Hairy Who while also being slightly off-key; imagine the same hectic ragtime played on a calliope instead of a piano.
    — Jeremy Lybarger, Artforum, 2 June 2026
Definition of off-key
Adjective
  • Combined with massaging seats, powerful climate control and extensive sound insulation, the technology turns an unpleasant commute into something approaching a sensory deprivation chamber.
    — Karl Brauer, Forbes.com, 28 July 2026
  • Chief on consumers' minds is cyclosporiasis, an unpleasant intestinal illness caused by the parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis, which has recently dominated headlines amid a tidal wave of cases.
    — Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 28 July 2026
Definition of unpleasant
Adjective
  • Mistaking being disagreeable with the act of disagreeing is common - especially in unsafe psychological workplaces.
    — Kate Wieczorek, Forbes.com, 22 July 2026
  • There are also a lot of people who have never dreamed of being disagreeable in public, much less considered joining a raucous social movement.
    — Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 12 June 2026
Definition of disagreeable
Adjective
  • That trademark indecision of summer takes root in her words and spreads through the music until her vocals diverge in the chorus, peeling like a clementine’s skin as one shrill line scales upward and the other remains monotone.
    — Hattie Lindert, Pitchfork, 21 July 2026
  • 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
Definition of shrill

Browse Nearby Words

tuneful
tuneless
tune out
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Tuneless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tuneless. Accessed 3 Aug. 2026.

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