tone-deaf
1
7.0
- adjective
- /toʊn dɛf/
:
falto de oído
- People often joke that it is hard for someone who is tone-deaf to learn an instrument.
Examples
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Anne's not literally tone-deaf, but she claims that she just can't remember a tune, not even for five minutes, not even while the song is being sung.
Fiction book (1996) -
Now, of course, if you hear the three tones together, most people, if they're not tone deaf anyway, can hear the three tones that make up that.
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Should someone who is tone deaf be 'allowed' to lead the singing?
Blog text (16) -
I agree that, let's face it, no one really wants to listen to a tone-deaf singer.
Blog text (16) -
Though tone-deaf, Ruby had always loved music.
Fiction book (1996) -
If someone is tone-deaf, they cannot appreciate or understand the pleasures of music.
Blog text (1) -
He said, yes, it's true, I am tone deaf, but there is no music.
-
He is completely tone-deaf.
Blog text (16) -
My mother insisted on piano lessons—broke the dear woman's heart when I turned out to be tone deaf—but she still was always at me about being careful with my hands.
Fiction book (1996) -
Justin wannabe can't sing in key, out of time, tone-deaf POS, no good fucking cocksucker who mocked the homeless, etc.
Blog text (5)
Synonyms
1
5.3
A sound that does not have a pleasant tune when sung
How Musical
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
The word tone-deaf comes from the parts tone ('musical sound or pitch') and deaf ('not able to hear'). So it literally means not able to hear or match musical tones, which is why a tone-deaf person cannot tell or sing the right notes.