tone deafness
- noun
- /toʊn ˈdɛf.nəs/
:
sordera tonal
- She discovered her tone deafness when she couldn't tell one note from another during music class.
Examples
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His tone deafness made it impossible for him to sing in tune with the choir.
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His tone deafness prevented him from accurately reproducing melodies, often leading to off-key singing.
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Despite his tone deafness, he enjoyed listening to music and attending concerts.
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Her tone deafness makes it hard for her to sing in tune.
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Many people with tone deafness struggle to enjoy music.
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She discovered her tone deafness when she struggled to identify the different musical notes played on the piano.
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People with tone deafness often find it challenging to recognize changes in music pitch, which can limit their musical experiences.
Synonyms
2
9.4
Cannot hear small differences in music or people's speech
How Accurate
Surface Forms
Morphology
tone + deafness
The meaning is directly derivable from combining 'tone' (mood or attitude in speech) with 'deafness' (inability to hear) to indicate an inability to perceive emotional or social tone; this compositional logic is straightforward and predictable. The construction mirrors common cross-linguistic patterns (and parallels the literal musical sense of being 'tone-deaf'), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the meaning.
Etymology
Tone deafness comes from music: imagine someone at a piano who cannot hear the difference between high and low tones, so they are deaf to the notes and cannot 'sing in tune'.