1. 1不成調的、沒有旋律的、五音不全的。講人唱歌就是「五音不全、走音」,通常帶點好笑或無奈,不算太傷人;講一張專輯 tuneless 就是真的在批評,說它沒旋律、不好聽。還有一種用法沒有褒貶:小說裡寫 a tuneless whistle,意思只是「隨口吹了幾聲,不成曲調」,並不是說吹得難聽。

    Tuneless means having no pleasant tune — music or singing with no melody you can follow, or none worth following. It is the direct opposite of , and it is nearly always a criticism. Two situations bring it out.

    Tuneless意思是means having no pleasant tune沒有好聽的曲調——music or singing沒有旋律可循的音樂或歌聲 with no melody you can follow, or none worth following或旋律不值得跟隨. It它 is the direct opposite of tuneful是tuneful(有旋律的)的直接反義詞, and而 it is nearly always a criticism幾乎都是在批評. Two situations有兩種情況 bring it out會用到它.

    The first is someone who cannot sing: a tuneless voice wanders off the notes, so what comes out is not really a melody at all. This use is often rather than cruel — you say your father sang a tuneless version of "Happy Birthday" and everyone smiles, because being unable to sing is a normal, harmless human thing.

    The first第一種 is someone who cannot sing是某人不會唱歌: a tuneless voice一個tuneless的聲音 wanders off the notes會偏離音準, so what comes out所以唱出來的 is not really a melody at all根本不算是旋律. This use這種用法 is often affectionate rather than cruel通常是親切的而不是殘忍的——you say你會說 your father sang a tuneless version of "Happy Birthday"你爸唱了一個走音版的「生日快樂歌」 and everyone smiles而大家都笑了, because因為 being unable to sing不會唱歌 is a normal, harmless human thing是很正常、無傷大雅的人之常情.

    The second is music a listener finds empty: a critic calls an album tuneless when the songs never settle into a melody the ear can hold on to. That use is genuinely negative.

    The second第二種 is music a listener finds empty是聽眾覺得空洞的音樂: a critic樂評 calls an album tuneless會說一張專輯tuneless when the songs never settle into a melody the ear can hold on to是因為歌曲始終沒有形成耳朵抓得住的旋律. That use這種用法 is genuinely negative是真的在負面批評.

    There is a third, quieter use worth knowing, because it surprises students: tuneless can simply mean without any particular tune, with no criticism at all. "He gave a tuneless whistle and walked away." Nobody is being insulted there — the writer just means the whistle was not any recognisable song, it was the sound a person makes when they are thinking about something else.

    There are also有 a third, quieter use第三種比較低調的用法 worth knowing值得知道, because it surprises students因為常讓學生意外: tuneless可以 can simply mean without any particular tune單純指沒有特定的曲調, with no criticism at all完全不帶批評. "He gave a tuneless whistle and walked away."「He gave a tuneless whistle and walked away.」 Nobody is being insulted there這裡沒有在罵誰——the writer作者 just means只是說 the whistle那聲口哨 was not any recognisable song不是任何聽得出來的歌, it它 was the aimless sound a person makes是一個人在想別的事時 when they are thinking about something else隨口發出的無目的聲音.

    This is very common in novels, usually with whistle, hum, or humming. So read the sentence before you decide the word is an insult.

    This這 is very common in novels在小說裡很常見, usually with whistle, hum, or humming通常搭配whistle、hum或humming. So所以 read the sentence在你判定這個字是在罵人之前 before you decide the word is an insult要先讀懂整句話.

    The adverb is tunelessly, the noun tunelessness, and both are much rarer than the adjective.

    The adverb副詞 is tunelessly, the noun名詞 tunelessness, and而 both兩個 are much rarer than the adjective都比形容詞少見得多.

core核心畫面

組成tune (a melody) + -less (without, having none of). So: without a tune. The suffix -less is the same one in careless, useless, homeless — it takes a noun and means that thing is missing.

同家族的字

  • tunefulthe opposite, built from the same word tune with -ful instead of -less
  • uselessshares the suffix -less, 'without' — without use
  • carelesssame -less pattern — without care

原始詞典資料2 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法,摘錄並精簡格式,我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的;有些用法可能上面已經講過了。

tunelessadj

  • 1

    Having no pleasing tune; not tuneful.

    • They insist they aren't a hardcore band, but their hectic pace and tuneless vocals are certainly in the hardcore vein.
  • 2

    Silent or mute.

摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary,已精簡格式;依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用,改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。