tone-deaf

[tohn-def]

See more synonyms for tone-deaf on Thesaurus.com

adjective

unable to distinguish differences in pitch in musical sounds when producing or hearing them.

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Origin of tone-deaf

First recorded in 1890–95

Related formstone deafness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for tone-deaf

Contemporary Examples

Some hated his tone-deaf assertion that he has behaved with “lightness” toward women.
DSK: the Fallout Continues
Tracy McNicoll
September 20, 2011
The story writes itself: ‘President Proves She Is Tone-Deaf on Economy.’
Meet the First Female President
Nicolle Wallace
October 17, 2010
Flo was not just mediocre: she was catastrophically tragic, tone-deaf, screechy and, as Randy Jackson would say, “pitchy, dawg!”
Dead Cool: Florence Foster Jenkins
Simon Doonan
July 10, 2010
This “ surprising option” (as the tone-deaf Times headline calls it) is often viewed as caddish.
The New Unsafe Sex
Tracy Quan
July 28, 2009

Historical Examples

There are people who are colour-blind, people who are tone-deaf.
The World I Live In
Helen Keller
Trilby the tone-deaf, who couldn't sing one single note in tune!
Trilby
George Du Maurier
Some people are "tone-deaf," and they find it physically impossible to observe the law of contrasts.
The Story of My Life
Ellen Terry
Some people are tone-deaf, and they find it physically impossible to observe the law of contrasts.
Vocal Expression
Katherine Jewell Everts
It is easy to understand that this master of harmony possessed no charms for a tone-deaf young man.
Makers of Electricity
Brother Potamian

British Dictionary definitions for tone-deaf

tone-deaf

adjective

unable to distinguish subtle differences in musical pitch

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Derived Formstone deafness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012