Tunelessly is the adverb from tuneless. It describes HOW someone sang, hummed or whistled: without any pleasant melody. Because it is an adverb it attaches to a verb — "he hummed tunelessly", never "a tunelessly song".

Tunelessly is the adverb from tunelessTunelessly是tuneless的副詞形。It describes HOW someone sang, hummed or whistled它描述的是一個人唱歌、哼歌、吹口哨的「方式」：without any pleasant melody沒有任何好聽的旋律。Because it is an adverb it attaches to a verb因為它是副詞，會搭配動詞——"he hummed tunelessly", never "a tunelessly song"是「he hummed tunelessly」，絕不會是「a tunelessly song」。

In practice this word lives with a very small set of verbs. Look at real writing and you will find it almost always next to hum, whistle, or sing, and most often in novels. "She hummed tunelessly as she washed up." "He whistled tunelessly through his teeth." That is nearly the whole life of the word.

In practice this word lives with a very small set of verbs實際上這個字只跟一小撮動詞搭配。Look at real writing and you will find it almost always next to hum, whistle, or sing看真實的文字你會發現它幾乎總是跟在hum、whistle或sing旁邊，and most often in novels而且最常出現在小說裡："She hummed tunelessly as she washed up." "He whistled tunelessly through his teeth."像「She hummed tunelessly as she washed up.」「He whistled tunelessly through his teeth.」——That is nearly the whole life of the word這幾乎就是這個字的全部用法了。

Notice what it is doing in those sentences. It is usually not saying the person is a bad singer. It is painting a small picture of someone absorbed in something else — the sound is aimless, a habit, not an attempt at a song. Writers use it to show a character who is distracted, bored, or comfortable enough not to care.

Notice what it is doing in those sentences注意它在這些句子裡做的事：It is usually not saying the person is a bad singer它通常不是在說這個人唱歌難聽。It is painting a small picture of someone absorbed in something else它畫的是一個人心思在別的地方的小畫面——the sound is aimless, a habit, not an attempt at a song那個聲音是漫無目的的、是習慣，不是想唱一首歌。Writers use it to show a character who is distracted, bored, or comfortable enough not to care作者用它來表現一個分心、無聊，或自在到懶得在乎的角色。

When it IS about bad singing, the context makes that clear: "the drunk crowd sang tunelessly all the way home". The opposite is tunefully.

When it IS about bad singing, the context makes that clear當它真的是在說唱得難聽的時候，上下文會講清楚："the drunk crowd sang tunelessly all the way home"像「the drunk crowd sang tunelessly all the way home」。The opposite is tunefully反義字是tunefully。