off-key

adjective

Definition of off-keynext
as in tuneless

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for off-key
  1. tuneless
  2. atonal
  3. unpleasant
  4. disagreeable
Adjective
  • Fletcher’s thrumming, didgeridoo voice—violently tuneless when singing and melodic in speech—is a counterpoint to Fliakos’s light, almost nasal timbre; Niall Cunningham and Andrew Maillet, as the President’s assistants, are their balancing male pair.
    Helen Shaw, The New Yorker, 13 Apr. 2024
  • Winfrey’s musical reworking of The Color Purple is essentially tuneless and unpleasant.
    Armond White, National Review, 3 Jan. 2024
Definition of tuneless
Adjective
  • Ives’s legendary status initially rested on his reputation as a maverick pioneer who supposedly had beaten Schoenberg in the race to the atonal pole.
    Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 4 Nov. 2024
  • This is a half-hour exploration that jazzes its way into atonal space, but Lesh never loses the groove.
    Jordan Hoffman, Vulture, 28 Oct. 2024
Definition of atonal
Adjective
  • Her pregnancies are painful and unpleasant, especially compared to Lenù’s.
    Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 7 Nov. 2024
  • One way to avoid unpleasant surprises is to keep your restaurant order simple.
    Sarah Garone, Condé Nast Traveler, 1 Nov. 2024
Definition of unpleasant
Adjective
  • Buried in a bland mixed-use skyscraper in the dreary Financial District downtown, an aging, if glamorous, 1929 movie palace with rotten acoustics long served as the San Diego Symphony’s disagreeable home.
    Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2024
  • The fasting is uncomfortable, the prep is disagreeable, and the procedure itself requires you to be put to sleep.
    Jeffrey Kluger, TIME, 15 Aug. 2024
Definition of disagreeable
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Thesaurus Entries Near off-key

offish

off-key

off-kilter

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Off-key.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/off-key. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.

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