tone deaf
2 antonyms for tone deaf — opposites grouped by meaning.
Adjective — Badly out of touch with how other people feel, so that what you say or do lands as insensitive or oblivious.
Synonyms by Meaning
1. adjective
Badly out of touch with how other people feel, so that what you say or do lands as insensitive or oblivious.
“The tone-deaf advert was pulled within two days.”
Opposites
Antonyms
How to use tone deaf
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
tone-deaf response
strikingly tone deaf
politically tone deaf
The figurative sense now dominates in journalism and social media. Hyphenated before a noun (a tone-deaf response) and usually open after a verb (the response was tone deaf).
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between tone deaf and insensitive?
Insensitive means you failed to consider someone's feelings. Tone deaf is narrower and more damning: it implies you misjudged the whole public mood, so the failure looks obvious to everyone but you. It is usually aimed at institutions, campaigns and public figures rather than private remarks.
Am I really tone deaf if I can't sing?
Almost certainly not. True tone deafness, or congenital amusia, means being unable to tell two pitches apart, and affects roughly four per cent of people. Most bad singing is a matter of untrained vocal control, which improves with practice.
Is tone deaf hyphenated?
Hyphenate it when it comes before the noun — a tone-deaf statement — and leave it open after a linking verb — the statement was tone deaf. The same rule applies to the musical sense.
