Meanings
- Not in the correct musical pitch.
The violins go out of tune in damp weather.
2 more examples
By the end of the song, I was completely out of tune with the guitar.
It is the lark that sings so out of tune, Straining harsh discords and unpleasing sharps.
c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene v] - figurativelyNot in agreement or in harmony (with something).
The party’s social policy is out of tune with the values of most citizens.
1 more example
[…] a house which is aping the town fashions of Germany and France, a prim, hideous, straight-up-and-down thing, plastered all over on the outside to look like stone, and altogether so stiff, and formal, and ugly and forbidding, and so out of tune with the gracious landscape, and so deaf and dumb and dead to the poetry of its surroundings, that it suggests an undertaker at a picnic, a corpse at a wedding, a puritan in Paradise.
1880, Mark Twain [pseudonym] (Samuel L[anghorne] Clemens), chapter XXXI, in A Tramp Abroad; […], Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company; London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 324Synonyms: out of step
Synonyms & antonyms
prepositional phraseNot in agreement or in harmony (with something).
Translations
Ancient Greek ἀνάρμοστος
- ἀνάρμοστος (anármostos)not in correct musical pitch
Chinese Mandarin 音高不準的 /音高不准的, 走音的
- 音高不準的 /音高不准的 (yīngāo bùzhǔn de)not in correct musical pitch
- 走音的 (zǒuyīn de)not in correct musical pitch
- 跑調的 /跑调的 (pǎodiào de)not in correct musical pitch
- 不和諧的 /不和谐的 (bù héxié de)not in agreement or in harmony
- 不一致的 (bù yīzhì de)not in agreement or in harmony
- 不協調的 /不协调的 (bù xiétiáo de)not in agreement or in harmony
Dutch ontstemd
- ontstemdnot in correct musical pitch
Esperanto misagorda
- misagordanot in correct musical pitch
Finnish epävireinen, epäpuhdas
- epävireinennot in correct musical pitch
- epäpuhdasnot in correct musical pitch
- falskinot in correct musical pitch
- epäsointuinennot in agreement or in harmony
French faux
- fauxnot in correct musical pitch
German verstimmt
- verstimmtnot in correct musical pitch
Greek παράφωνος
- παράφωνος (paráfonos)not in correct musical pitch
Hungarian hamis
- hamisnot in correct musical pitch
Icelandic hjáróma
- hjárómanot in correct musical pitch
Italian stonato, scordato
- stonatonot in correct musical pitch
- scordatonot in correct musical pitch
Māori rangirua, orotaha
- rangiruanot in correct musical pitch
- orotahanot in correct musical pitch
- tangihēnot in correct musical pitch
Norwegian Bokmål falsk
- falsknot in correct musical pitch
Polish fałszywy, rozstrojony
- fałszywynot in correct musical pitch
- rozstrojonynot in correct musical pitch
Portuguese desafinado
- desafinadonot in correct musical pitch
Russian фальши́во
- фальши́во (falʹšívo)not in correct musical pitch
Scottish Gaelic ana-ghleusta
- ana-ghleustanot in correct musical pitch
Spanish desafinado, fuera de tono
- desafinadonot in correct musical pitch
- fuera de tononot in correct musical pitch
Swedish med fel tonhöjd, falskt
- med fel tonhöjdnot in correct musical pitch
- falsktnot in correct musical pitch
Tagalog kagangkang, desapinado
- kagangkangnot in correct musical pitch
- desapinadonot in correct musical pitch
Cite this entry
out of tune. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/out%20of%20tune
“out of tune.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/out%20of%20tune. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “out of tune,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/out%20of%20tune.
Source: out of tune on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.