tone-deafness

noun

Being unable to recognize and match pitches.

“Near-synonyms: unattunedness, obliviousness”

Similar
unattunednessobliviousness
Opposite
perfect pitchattunedness
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Meanings

nountone-deafness (uncountable)
  1. The condition or quality of being tone-deaf.
    1. uncountableBeing unable to recognize and match pitches.

      Antonyms: perfect pitch

    2. uncountableBeing out of touch, out of sync, or oblivious.

      Near-synonyms: unattunedness, obliviousness

      Synonyms: unattunedness, obliviousness · Antonyms: attunedness

Synonyms & antonyms

nounBeing unable to recognize and match pitches.

Opposite
perfect pitch

nounBeing out of touch, out of sync, or oblivious.

Similar
unattunednessobliviousness
Opposite
attunedness
Also see
tin ear

Origin

From tone-deaf + -ness.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Norwegian Bokmål tonedøvhet
  • tonedøvhetTranslations
Polish brak słuchu muzycznego
  • brak słuchu muzycznegoTranslations
Swedish tondövhet
  • tondövhetTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

tone-deafness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tone-deafness

MLA

“tone-deafness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tone-deafness. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tone-deafness,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tone-deafness.

Source: tone-deafness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.