off-key

[ awf-kee, of- ]

adjective

1. deviating from the correct tone or pitch; out of tune.
2. Informal. somewhat irregular, abnormal, or incongruous.

off key

adjective

1. music
   1. not in the correct key
   2. out of tune
2. out of keeping; discordant

Word History and Origins

Origin of off-key¹

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

He says if a string in a song is a little off-key, you can pick it out and change it.

From The Daily Beast

The jibe is off-key too because Wilde himself was hardly immune to the sentimental and even the mawkish.

From The Daily Beast

“Bring the drugs baby, I can bring my pain,” The Weeknd sings in his beauteous, soaring voice, backed by off-key sonic beats.

From The Daily Beast

"I would've jumped out a window if it were on a higher floor," he says of an off-key information session we sit in on.

From The Daily Beast

By Day 40, smiles are rare, and when they occur, they seem off-key.

From The Daily Beast

Mapihaw ku ug mutaas ang núta, I go off-key on the high notes.

From Project Gutenberg

From inside came the rare sound of water splashing, mixed with a wheezing, off-key caterwauling.

From Project Gutenberg

Haberdasher did not fit in anywhere with Kitty's projects; it was off-key, a jarring note.

From Project Gutenberg

It sounded off-key because it was as off-key as a ten-yard-strip of baldfaced perjury.

From Project Gutenberg

Clumsily, rustily, Ben whistled a cheerful little off-key tune to himself.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• discordant
• dissonant