TUNELESS Synonyms: 77 Similar and Opposite Words

tuneless

adjective

Definition of tuneless

as in atonal

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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

Adjective

As is Takal, clearly having fun with the film’s queasy, lurching atmospherics, abetted by the sparse, shivery, atonal chimes of Jonathan Goldsmith’s score, and the floating, disembodied feel of Robert Leitzell’s camerawork.

— Guy Lodge, Variety, 13 June 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

While some may be looking for more reasons to eat cookies, many more are simply hesitating to eat salads and other fresh produce amid a multistate outbreak of cyclospora, known for that unpleasant symptom, among others.

— Katia Hetter, CNN Money, 22 July 2026
Principal owner John Middleton recently discussed the challenging decision to dismiss longtime manager Rob Thomson, admitting that terminating employees remains the most difficult and unpleasant aspect of his executive role, even after decades.

— Peter Chawaga, Forbes.com, 22 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

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“Tuneless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tuneless. Accessed 27 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of tuneless

adjective

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