tuneful
Americanadjective
-
full of melody; melodious.
tuneful compositions.
- Synonyms:
- sweet, dulcet, harmonious, musical
- Antonyms:
- discordant
-
producing musical sounds or melody.
adjective
-
having a pleasant or catchy tune; melodious
-
producing a melody or music
a tuneful blackbird
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of tuneful
Explanation
Music that's pleasant to listen to is tuneful. A tuneful lullaby will put your little sister right to sleep. If you whistle melodically, in a way that sounds lovely to people who hear it, your whistle is tuneful. You might describe a new album from your favorite band as being full of tuneful songs, or the birds in your yard as making tuneful chirps and tweets. Tuneful comes from tune, which evolved out of tone and its Proto-Indo-European root, ten-, "to stretch."
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.
The ex-Beatle’s new album is a collection of characteristically fresh and tuneful songwriting, mixing reflections on his Liverpool days with more contemporary-minded material.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
The sound is raw yet tuneful, with scratchy electric guitars and whomping live drums in place of the synth-ier, more intricately layered productions of “Love Hate Music Box.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2025
In season three, for instance, Sam helps guide Brad, her best friend Joel’s boyfriend, through a tuneful declaration of his devotion.
From Salon ● Dec. 8, 2024
The ever-surprising bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding persuaded the mystical and ingeniously tuneful Brazilian songwriter Milton Nascimento, 81, to collaborate on a full album that was recorded in 2023 and is due in August.
From New York Times ● May 17, 2024
The surge in carol composition around this time, notably in northern Europe, was partly inspired by an earlier Italian tradition of tuneful sacred songs welcoming the Christ-child’s nativity.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
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.
