attune
Americanverb (used with object)
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attunes,
present (3rd person singular)
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attuned,
past participle, past
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attuning
present participle
verb
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to adjust or accustom (a person or thing); acclimatize
-
to tune (a musical instrument)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
attunesimple
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attunessimple
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have attunedperfect
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has attunedperfect
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am attuningprogressive
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are attuningprogressive
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is attuningprogressive
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have been attuningperfect progressive
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has been attuningperfect progressive
Past
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attunedsimple
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had attunedperfect
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was attuningprogressive
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were attuningprogressive
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had been attuningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of attune
Explanation
When you attune to something, you adjust to it and become aware of the way it works. A new parent has to attune to a baby's schedule and personality. Preschool teachers need to attune to their students' various needs and interests, and when you visit a foreign country it's important to attune to the unfamiliar culture, so that you're both comfortable and respectful. The verb attune is almost always followed by "to," and it often shows up in the form of "be attuned to." Attune comes from tune, "bring into a state of proper pitch."
Vocabulary lists containing attune
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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.
See Examples For:
A new crop of artists has been able to reach the heights of Martin’s success without the need to attune its Latino identity to appease a white majority.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2024
In session, I attune to you, reflect and interpret.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 13, 2023
The more the community is represented in meetings, and in discussions in general, Barlet feels, the more attune the whole group is to its needs.
From The Verge ● Jul. 15, 2022
I am learning to attune my senses to subtleties.
From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2021
The Pythagoreans, who paid an especial honour to Apollo, went still further, and employed music as a charm to soothe the passions, attune the spirit to harmony, and cure both body and mind.
From The History and Antiquities of the Doric Race, Vol. 1 of 2 by Karl Otfried Müller
But as the book went on I realized it wasn’t really written for readers like me, but rather for those whose culture attunes them to the idea that death is a porous border.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 28, 2023
“Escape from Alcatraz,” like “A Man Escaped,” opens with a period title card and the arrival of a prisoner, and it quickly attunes viewers to the sound of footsteps and shackles.
From New York Times ● May 14, 2020
Understanding, anticipating, and responding to change is at the heart of science fiction—envisioning ourselves amid the strange and the fantastic attunes us to the unexpected and helps us chart a course to a better future.
From Slate ● Apr. 10, 2020
Before long, the algorithm can detect a “p” sound across multiple languages, and exposure to those languages further attunes its senses.
From Time ● Mar. 24, 2015
He nearly always attunes his harp to the old subject, so as to become hopelessly monotonous.
From History of English Humour, Vol. 1 With an Introduction upon Ancient Humour by Alfred Guy Kingan L'Estrange
Because, Bruschi said, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa seemed much more attuned to McDaniel’s offense when the two teamed up for the Miami Dolphins.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
Investors should remain on their toes and always attuned to near-term risks to their specific portfolio holdings.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
Conversations like this reminded me that people with little power are often attuned to the differences between what they hear from authorities and what they know in their guts.
From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026
He's bounced back from challenging situations in his football past and you almost become attuned to him doing so again, but there is a lot to fix here.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
“Blood?” his father said, his frame tightening, attuned to disrespect.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
This could also be an opportunity for them to perform the “love exercise” of having grace and compassion for you, and attuning to your needs more deeply.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
For centuries the finest medical minds harped on attuning a balance among the four humors—sanguine, choleric, melancholic and phlegmatic—in tender young constitutions by adjusting the proportions of hot-cold and moist-dry elements in the diet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
Goodman is credited with attuning it to New Age sensibilities and turning astrology from a niche interest into a pop-culture juggernaut.
From Slate ● May 5, 2026
She was an artist not just adept at expressing her own vulnerabilities, but attuning to those of her listeners.
From Salon ● Mar. 28, 2025
During the same season you frequently hear him attuning his harsh sharp voice to its softest note of endearment, a long-drawn and modulated variation of his cackle.
From In New England Fields and Woods by Rowland E. (Evans) Robinson
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.
