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tone-deaf

tone-deaf

15 7.7
Not aware of other people's feelings or reactions
  • adjective
  • /toʊn dɛf/
  • Offensive
: falto de tacto
  • This is some of the most tone deaf advertising for a digital game store I think I've ever seen.
  • politically tone-deaf
  • completely tone-deaf
  • tone-deaf police chief

Stupid at best and completely fucking tone deaf to reality at worst.

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Examples

  • This confirms for me that Robert can be a jerk and very emotionally and culturally tone-deaf.

    Blog text (22)
  • Their own class privilege can be quite invisible to them, leading them to say tone-deaf, obnoxious things.

    Blog text (11)
  • This is just such a tone deaf decision.

  • Then the marketing is really bad and still somewhat tone deaf, at least for the technical press.

  • This might be the most ill-conceived and tone-deaf editorial I have ever read.

    Blog text (33)
  • It strikes me as particularly tone-deaf to the reality that is Southern California.

    Blog text (24)
  • I think the negative responses are hilarious in the way that they're totally tone-deaf and clueless.

    Blog text (13)
  • Arroway may be a good, even great scientist, but she's politically tone-deaf and a loose cannon.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • Over the past year, the board has been roundly criticized for becoming a rubber stamp for former President Graham Spanier and for being tone-deaf to the feelings of large groups of alumni when it did take charge in the wake of Sandusky's arrest.

    Blog text (31)
  • His tone-deaf response to the tragedy left many feeling hurt and frustrated.

Synonyms

insensitive
vstone-deaf
119 4.6

Not showing care for other people's feelings or needs

is about failing to detect emotional nuances rather than deliberate disregard
unresponsive
vstone-deaf
29 4.7

Not reacting to touch, sound, or commands

is about failing to notice emotional cues rather than simply not reacting
tactless
vstone-deaf
5 4.9

Showing no care for other people's feelings when speaking or acting

is about not noticing emotional signals rather than careless speech
insensate
vstone-deaf
1 9.9

Having no feeling in body or mind and no pity

is about missing social signals rather than being emotionally numb
insensible
vstone-deaf
1 7.3

Does not notice or care about things that upset other people

focuses on missing subtle emotional cues rather than general unawareness
unreactive
vstone-deaf
1 6.5

Does not show feelings or respond when someone tries to upset them

refers to low reactivity rather than specific insensitivity to social signals
highly insensitive
vstone-deaf
1 5.5

Being very uncaring about other people's feelings

is milder, indicating lack of perception rather than strong disregard
tone-deaf to others' feelings
vstone-deaf
  • Offensive
8.4

Not able or willing to notice how other people feel

is the shorter general label for that same unawareness

Antonyms

424 2.9

Aware of and careful about other people's feelings

1 5.1

Able to notice things using the senses like sight or hearing

How Sensitive

empathetic
28 4.4
sensitive
424 2.9
tone-deaf
  • Offensive
15 7.7
oblivious
76 6.3

Surface Forms

tone-deaf positive

Morphology

tone-deaf = tone + deaf (semi-transparent) = tone + deaf

While the components 'tone' and 'deaf' are clear, the idiomatic meaning of being insensitive to social cues is not directly derivable.

Etymology

The word tone-deaf comes from the parts tone ('the feeling or attitude in speech') and deaf ('not able to hear'). So calling someone tone-deaf means they 'do not hear' the mood or feelings of others, which is why the phrase says they miss social or emotional cues.