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Glite Dictionary
on-key

on-key

1 5.9
Singing or playing the correct notes so it sounds in tune
  • adjective
  • /ɑn ki/
translation icon : en tono
  • "He found himself not nearly the man he wanted to be—a lover of music who could not sing on key, a reader of poetry who could not memorize a line, an aficionado of literature who could not write a sentence.
  • sing on-key

Examples

  • It may be the girls just sucking at staying on key, which is likely, but they should have a vocal coach there at the studio when they're recording.

    Blog text (26)

  • The pianist's accompaniment was on-key, enhancing the singer's impressive vocal range.

  • I don't mind saying that I would like that, provided they stayed on key.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • I mean, it’s all on-key, and the song is pretty good, but the mixing.

    Blog text (26)

  • During the performance, the choir sang beautifully and was remarkably on-key throughout.

  • Even though she was nervous, her voice remained on-key during the entire song.

Synonyms

true
vson-key
261 1.0

Exactly aimed and hitting the intended point

focuses specifically on accuracy of musical pitch rather than general correctness
in tune
vson-key
31 3.7

Agreeing and working well with other people or ideas

refers only to matching musical pitch rather than social agreement
pitch-perfect
vson-key
3 6.0

Exactly right in tone or performance

is accurate in musical pitch but not necessarily flawless in performance

Antonyms

off-key
12 4.5

A voice or instrument that sounds in the wrong pitch

How In-Tune

on-key
1 5.9
off-key
12 4.5

Surface Forms

on-key positive

Morphology

on-key = key (transparent) = on + key

The adjective is a direct preposition + noun construction ('on' + 'key') meaning 'in the correct musical key', which is readily inferable. [Postprocessing: moved 'on' from base_words to prefix]

Etymology

The word on-key comes from the idea of singing 'on' the song's key, like the main note or the notes on a piano. So to be on-key is to sing at the right pitch, or to be 'in tune' with the music.