unmusical

adjective

un·​mu·​si·​cal ˌən-ˈmyü-zi-kəl How to pronounce unmusical (audio)
: not musical: such as
a
: not musical in nature : harsh, discordant
an unmusical voice
the unmusical call of the bluejay
b
: not gifted in or appreciative of music
Both Dick and Carolyn were married, to unmusical spouses …John Updike
unmusically adverb
… a traveller on foot, who walked with a light quick step, and sang as he went—for certain in a very loud voice, but not unmusically. Charles Dickens

Examples of unmusical in a Sentence

a very unmusical chorus of squawks from the angry ravens
Recent Examples on the Web
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.
Those songs remind Omara of real people and real events, political interludes whose senselessness and brutality have left unmusical lacunae in her life. Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 18 Dec. 2023 His parents were unmusical Russian-Jewish immigrants who ran various businesses with mixed success. The Economist, 3 Oct. 2019 Paradoxically, then, the man most involved in the development of the electric guitar was the unmusical Leo Fender. David Kirby, WSJ, 17 Jan. 2019 The controversy of Schoenberg’s serialist works—the overwhelming reaction to them as ugly, nightmarish, simply unmusical—shows how firmly tonality had come to condition habits of listening. Paul Grimstad, The New Republic, 21 June 2018

Word History

First Known Use

1603, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of unmusical was in 1603

Dictionary Entries Near unmusical

Cite this Entry

“Unmusical.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unmusical. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.

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