unmusicaladj.n.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈmjuːzᵻkl/, U.S. /ˌənˈmjuzəkəl/ 1. Of a person: not musically gifted; not appreciative of music. Also as n. (with the and plural agreement): unmusical people as a class.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > music appreciation > music lover > [adjective] > not
unmusical1603
earless1605
mistuned1755
deaf1785
timber1815
untunable1851
rhythm-deaf1871
tone-deaf1894
amusical1906
1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 246 He..findeth himselfe as unmusicall and unlettered as he was before.
a1643 W. Cartwright Ordinary (1651) ii. iii. 31 I'l..Give Organs to each Parish..; And so root out the unmusicall Elect.
1758 E. Carter tr. Epictetus Wks. iii. xix. 277 An unmusical Person is a Child in Music.
1796 T. Twining Let. 29 Nov. in Sel. Lett. (1991) II. 477 I invited no unmusical, or half musical, hearers.
1862 E. Wallace tr. F. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Lett. from Italy & Switzerland 70 The Papal singers..are almost all unmusical, and do not execute even the most established pieces in tune.
1896 Westm. Gaz. 2 June 2/3 The unmusical admired her singing, the musical her acting.
1959 G. D. Painter Marcel Proust I. vii. 100 She was unmusical, nonpolitical, and in the social sense unsnobbish.
1984 A. Price Sion Crossing ii. 30 A recollection of prep school music lessons for the unmusical.
2009 Toronto Star (Nexis) 10 Dec. e8 It never occurred to my parents, who were completely unmusical, to send me to a choir.
2. Esp. of a sound: not of a musical nature; unmelodious, harsh.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > unpleasant quality > harsh or discordant quality > [adjective]
hardOE
rudea1375
stern1390
rougha1400
discordanta1425
stoutc1440
hoarse1513
harsh1530
raughtish1567
rugged1567
dissonant1573
harshy1582
jarry1582
immelodious1601
cragged1605
raggeda1616
unmusicala1616
absonousa1620
unharmoniousa1634
inharmonical1683
unharmonic1694
inharmonious1715
craggy1774
pebbly1793
reedy1795
iron1807
dry1819
inharmonic1828
asperated1835
sawing1851
shrewd1876
coarse1879
callithumpian1886
dissonantal1946
ear-bending1946
sandpaper1953
society > leisure > the arts > music > [adjective] > having musical quality > not
musicless1615
unmusicala1616
immusical1626
noteless1721
anti-musical1824
a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) iv. v. 59 A name vnmusicall to the Volcians eares. View more context for this quotation
1692 tr. B. Jonson Leges Convivales in Wks. sig. Bbbbb6v Let Argument bear no unmusical sound.
1718 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. 10 Apr. (1965) I. 402 Their Pipes..are no unmusical Instruments.
1753 R. Shiels & T. Cibber Lives Poets Great Brit. & Irel. I. 18 His stile..is equally unmusical and obsolete with Chaucer's.
1786 T. Busby Compl. Dict. Music Unmusical, an epithet applied..to whatever is not absolutely harmonious, melodious, or agreeable to a cultivated ear.
1855 Poultry Chron. 3 500/2 At this time..its not unmusical cry is heard.
1880 J. McCarthy Hist. our Own Times IV. xlviii. 22 His voice was singularly unmusical and harsh.
1907 ‘N. Blanchan’ Birds Every Child should Know xiv. 205 Our yellow-billed cuckoo's unmusical, guttural notes sound something like a tree toad's rattle.
1998 Independent 12 Nov. i. 9/6 Lord Menuhin will make his plea for unmusical police sirens to be banned later this month.
3. Not based on musical principles.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > [adjective] > not on musical principles
unmusical1786
1786 T. Twining in Recreat. & Stud. (1882) 132 All this is unmusical criticism, and goes upon the false notion of the words..being principal.
1849 H. Formby Rom. Ritual iii. 66 It has been said..that the Plain Chant is an unmusical theory, and that its modes or scales are incapable of an adaptation to the organ.
1998 Dancing Times 88 435/2 The use or misuse of musical introductions is the root cause of much unmusical dancing.
Derivatives
unˈmusicalness n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > [noun] > musical quality > not
unmusicalness1678
society > leisure > the arts > music > music appreciation > [noun] > not
unmusicality1853
unmusicalness1873
1678 R. Cudworth tr. Aristotle in True Intellect. Syst. Universe i. v. 759 Matter..perpetually remains, and all other things whatsoever, are but..Passions and Affections..thereof, as Musicalness and Unmusicalness.
1774 W. Mitford Ess. Harmony Lang. iv. 59 The unmusicalness of the northern languages is not owing to the shortness of their syllables, but to the shortness of their vowel-sounds.
1873 C. M. Yonge Pillars of House I. x. 201 Geraldine resembled Fulbert in unmusicalness.
1922 Daily Mail 10 Nov. 7 She had been painfully struck by..‘the unmusicalness’ of the bells of public clocks.
2009 Slate Mag. (Nexis) 22 Jan. The jarring unmusicalness of this segment, its primal failure to grasp the most basic principles of entertainment, was confounding.
unmusiˈcality n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > music appreciation > [noun] > not
unmusicality1853
unmusicalness1873
1853 Musical World 8 Jan. 12/1 Not to be a musical nation is no disgrace when such is the evidence of our unmusicality.
1946 Penguin Music Mag. Dec. 14 Our vaunted choral singing is really the proof of our fundamental unmusicality, because any amateur can sing in a chorus.
2003 Daily Tel. 5 Dec. 24/1 Unmusicality proves depressingly pervasive among younger choreographers.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1603