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Glite Dictionary
😢 To upset emotionally 🎹 To make out of tune
to untune

to untune

8.4
To make an instrument like a guitar or piano stop sounding in tune
  • verb
  • /ʌnˈtun/
translation icon : desafinar
  • If you untune the violin, it won't sound right for the next performance.

Examples

  • Don't untune your guitar before the concert!

  • Please be careful not to untune the guitar while adjusting the strings.

  • Excessive heat can untune a piano rather quickly in an unventilated room.

  • She untunes the piano strings to fix them.

  • Excessive heat can untune a piano rather quickly in an unventilated room.

  • If you untune the violin, it won't sound right for the next performance.

  • Please be careful not to untune the guitar while adjusting the strings.

Synonyms

to detune
vsto untune
  • Specialized
1 6.6

To change a musical instrument so its pitch is different from normal

causes an instrument to become out of pitch without implying a deliberate pitch change
to mistune
vsto untune
8.1

Make a musical instrument sound at the wrong pitch

causes an instrument to become out of pitch without implying an adjustment

Antonyms

to tune
163 1.8

Adjust an instrument so it plays the correct notes

to harmonize
  • US
10 4.1

Make different things agree or work well together

How Tuned

to tune
163 1.8
to fine-tune
26 4.2
to retune
1 4.5
to untune
8.4

Surface Forms

untune infinitive
untuned past
untuned past participle
untuning present participle
untunes third person singular

Morphology

untune = tune (transparent) = un + tune

A direct negation or reversal using productive English prefix 'un-' applied to the verb 'tune' meaning to make an instrument or sound out of tune.

Etymology

Untune comes from the first part un- ('not' or 'reverse') and tune, which means a musical 'note' or 'harmony'. So to untune an instrument is to make its notes go out of 'harmony' and sound wrong.