atonal
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of atonal
Explanation
Atonal music doesn't follow the usual rules of melody, and it's not in a particular key. Sometimes very experimental atonal music sounds a lot like noise. Most music is written in a particular key, and it centers on a tone from which notes rise and fall in a familiar way. In the early 20th century, some adventurous composers wrote pieces that were atonal, such as Arnold Schoenberg, whose atonal compositions are among the most well known, although he objected to the term itself. The word atonal combines a-, "not," and tonal, from the Greek tonos, "pitch, accent, or key."
Vocabulary lists containing atonal
Music - Middle School
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Music - High School
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Opera Vocabulary
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Eventually, the atonal structure becomes the film’s nature.
From Salon ● Mar. 8, 2026
“There’s this mournful, slightly atonal quality to his compositions,” she says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 24, 2025
For example, dissonant, atonal harmonies convey a sense of unrest.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 21, 2024
He once played a piece for piano, violin and oboe for Milhaud that contained a melody he was ashamed to have written, as 12-point atonal music was in vogue at the time.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 9, 2023
I think it is finally my atonal screeching that awakes them.
From "Paper Towns" by John Green
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
