How to Use tone-deaf in a Sentence
tone-deaf
adjective-
But Met Gala was a tone-deaf charade of excess and hypocrisy.
—Jane Onyanga-Omara, USA TODAY, 8 May 2024
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It’s lined with palm trees that always seem out of place to me, tone-deaf in their presence.
—Hazlitt, 28 June 2022
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Negishi’s death was announced this week, at the age of 100, which means a century of making the world a louder, more tone-deaf place.
—Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 16 Mar. 2024
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This is an offensive and tone-deaf gesture that holds the people in contempt.
—Town & Country, 6 May 2023
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Left-leaning users have called the campaign’s posts tone-deaf in light of the ongoing atrocities in Gaza.
—Makena Kelly, WIRED, 24 Feb. 2024
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Sure, the new ad is tone-deaf — after all, Apple rose to prominence by aligning itself with creative types.
—Elizabeth Lopatto, The Verge, 9 May 2024
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Josh McDaniels must’ve been tone-deaf and inept, judging by the gusto Raiders players have shown since his dismissal.
—Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Dec. 2023
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According to a 1968 Times report, MacRae was originally cast to play a tone-deaf lounge singer for a single episode.
—Malia Mendez, Los Angeles Times, 30 May 2024
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The commenters had an absolute field day with what many view as a tone-deaf and retrogressive fashion shoot.
—Kathleen Walsh, Glamour, 28 Nov. 2023
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To some who identify as huge fans of Swift – presumably the group being courted – the outcry is both tone-deaf and flattering.
—Andre Mouchard, Orange County Register, 4 Feb. 2024
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The tone-deaf response by college students and left-wing activists has been matched by statements from the halls of power that are equally callous toward Palestinian lives.
—TIME, 14 Oct. 2023
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Large brands have made famously tone-deaf commercials that left viewers wondering why the decision-makers lacked eyes to see the problem.
—Gregory Crawford, Forbes, 16 Feb. 2024
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Democrats mocked the tone-deaf exercise, which came as GOP lawmakers push the nation to the brink of default by refusing to raise the debt ceiling without punishing cuts to social programs.
—Dave Goldiner New York Daily News (tns), al, 26 Jan. 2023
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As an example, consider the word ‘tone-deaf,’ which is often used in professional settings to describe how a message won’t land.
—Kavitha Prabhakar, Forbes, 8 Mar. 2023
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But from the pageantry of the tropical getaway, accusations of the trip being tone-deaf coupled with the memory of Tarte’s past faux pas have created a massive discussion online.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 8 Mar. 2024
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But critics have called it tone-deaf — with several marketing experts noting the campaign’s execution missed the mark.
—Wyatte Grantham-Philips, Fortune, 9 May 2024
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These two aren’t alone delivering tone-deaf missives over virtual meetings.
—Allison Morrow, CNN, 20 Apr. 2023
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Some anti-monarchists consider the gesture unnecessary and tone-deaf.
—Conor Murray, Forbes, 5 May 2023
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The Defense secretary, a retired Army general, has shown himself to be politically tone-deaf.
—Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times, 15 Jan. 2024
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But to travel so far (7,000 miles round-trip), with so many resulting carbon emissions, and to a place especially sensitive to the ravages of global warming, felt irresponsible and tone-deaf.
—Kate Siber, Outside Online, 8 Mar. 2023
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Behind the incident was an innocent-enough but perhaps tone-deaf college student game called Senior Assassins.
—Patrik Jonsson, The Christian Science Monitor, 19 Apr. 2024
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At the start of this year, even an internet company tellingly had enough of workforce flexibility, releasing a video that made headlines for its mandate’s tone-deaf messaging.
—Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 5 Feb. 2024
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Criticism of the social media comments came from one resident, another felt the expense for the event was misguided and a third said the social media critics who labeled Highland Park tone-deaf know little about the city’s character.
—Steve Sadin, Chicago Tribune, 12 Sep. 2023
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After all the statements and policy debates, the party has portrayed Abbott as tone-deaf, personally unsympathetic and cruel.
—Emily Wax-Thibodeaux, Washington Post, 2 May 2023
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As such, introducing exclusionary hiring practices is not only tone-deaf but also counterproductive.
—Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 26 Apr. 2023
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tone-deaf.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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