untunedadj.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈtjuːnd/, /(ˌ)ʌnˈtʃuːnd/, U.S. /ˌənˈt(j)und/ 1. in extended use.a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) v. i. 312 That heere my onely sonne Knowes not my feeble key of vntun'd cares. View more context for this quotation?a1650 W. Bosworth Chast & Lost Lovers (1651) 119 O that it might have been While she had liv'd, and had my verses seen, Before sad cries deaf'd my untuned ears.1684 Earl of Roscommon Ess. Translated Verse 21 I lose my Patience, when, with Sawcy Pride, By untun'd Ears I hear His Numbers try'd.
a. Not tuned; not made tuneful or melodious; also, rendered untuneful.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > tuning or intonation > [adjective] > out of tune
distonedc1400
distunedc1484
mistonedc1500
untuned1592
false1597
absurd1617
mistuneda1684
off-keya1918
sour1937
off-pitch1945
1592 S. Daniel Delia xxi Vexing with vntun'd moane her dainty eares.
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard II i. iii. 128 Rouzde vp with boistrous vntunde drummes. View more context for this quotation
1613 G. Chapman Reuenge Bussy D'Ambois i. sig. B1 The Cities Bels (Iangling together in vntun'd confusion).
1630 M. Drayton David & Goliah in Muses Elizium 193 The harmony of the vntuned'st string Torments the spirit which so torments the King.
1712 A. Pope tr. Ovid Sapho to Phaon in tr. Ovid Epist. (ed. 8) 19 Untun'd my Lute, and silent is my Lyre.
1733 Satirist 9 For Sat'rists write in so untun'd a Strain, Thy claim no Title to th' harmonious Train.
1773 J. Herries Elements Speech 53 A string in an instrument broken or untuned.
b. Not furnished with a tune.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > singing > [adjective] > not singing or not sung
unsunga1426
songless1748
untuned1853
1853 C. Reade Christie Johnstone 69 The Newhaven men..are agreed that this song lifts them through more work than untuned fishermen can manage.
2. figurative. Not brought into, put out of, a state of harmony or concord; disordered.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > disharmony or incongruity > [adjective] > not brought into harmony
unconcerted1594
untuned1602
uncomposed1650
uncompounded1659
irreconciled1750
unadjusted1812
1602 2nd Pt. Returne fr. Parnassus v. i. 1986 With vntaught hand, and with vntuned hart.
1648 J. Beaumont Psyche xvii. v. 316 At the first, when in th' untuned Deep Each Thing was wroth, and snarled with his Brother.
1709 J. Reynolds Death's Vision v. 11 The Intellective, Vital Flame..Is Thoughtless struck, and Dies By the Untun'd Contexture of the' Unthinking Frame!
1794 W. Godwin Caleb Williams I. viii. 177 Mr. Tyrrel would have gone also; his mind was untuned.
a1807 W. Wordsworth Prelude (1959) iv. 116 For cold and raw the air was, and untun'd.
1834 T. B. Macaulay William Pitt in Ess. ⁋27 When his mind was untuned.
3. Of an electronic device: not tuned to any one frequency; able to deal with signals of a wide range of frequencies. Also transferred.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic devices or components > operation of electronic devices > [adjective] > tuned > not
untuned1905
1905 Electrician Mar. 822/1 A forest would have great influence in impeding if not in staying altogether the transmission of signals over its surface, more especially in an untuned system.
1962 J. H. Simpson & R. S. Richards Physical Princ. Junction Transistors vii. 136 Small-signal operation in the region beyond cutoff is usually confined to two types of amplifier: 1. The tuned band-pass type... 2. The untuned wide-band or video amplifier.
1978 G. Sims Rex Mundi vii. 47 The disorganisation..extended even to the absence of..canned bouzouki music. Instead there was the untuned blare of a radio station.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
adj.1592