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
-
His swan song was often off-key.—
Andrew Knoll,
Daily News,
26 Apr. 2026
-
Warming up, Smith throws back his head and belts Bieber lyrics, joyfully off-key.—
Sam Kestenbaum,
Vulture,
2 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Place a bowl of coffee grounds in the offending area (or, in the case of your shoes, place dry grounds in an old sock or cloth tied up and leave overnight inside the shoe) and let the grounds absorb unpleasant odors, says Rocky Vuong, founder of Calibre Cleaning Unlimited.—
Alexandra Kelly,
Martha Stewart,
9 May 2026
-
Years later, the teenaged Daughter lets in a woman from the outside, which causes chaos in their relationship and reveals some unpleasant secrets.—
K. Thor Jensen,
PC Magazine,
8 May 2026
Adjective
-
This is because there is a meaningful difference between disagreeing and being disagreeable.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
7 Apr. 2026
-
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
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
-
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 11 May. 2026.
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