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Synonyms

tuneless

American  
[toon-lis, tyoon-] / ˈtun lɪs, ˈtyun- /

adjective

  1. unmelodious; unmusical.

  2. making or giving no music; silent.

    In the corner stood a tuneless old piano.
tuneless British  
/ ˈtjuːnlɪs /

adjective

  1. having no melody or tune

  2. poetic not producing or able to produce music; silent

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • tunelessly adverb
  • tunelessness noun

Etymology

Origin of tuneless

First recorded in 1585–95; tune + -less

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Entertainment Weekly said "life with the Plastics pretty darn fantastic", but the Hollywood Reporter described the film as a "tuneless mess".

From BBC • Jan. 11, 2024

The fact that this hard-edged and nearly tuneless theme song went to No. 1.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 21, 2021

You might remember Spears from her songs, belted out in tuneless unison by a gaggle of sixth-grade girls at a sleepover, perhaps, or viewed over and over on MTV.

From Washington Post • Feb. 10, 2021

Who wouldn’t want to live there – especially now, in place of this grey, tuneless reality?

From The Guardian • Jan. 4, 2020

They both looked over at Ess, who was now doing something with a stick around her shells and humming a tuneless song to herself.

From "Orphan Island" by Laurel Snyder

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.