| 释义 |
tuneless, a.|ˈtjuːnlɪs|
[f. tune n. + -less.]
1. Having no sweetness of tone; untuneful, unmusical, unmelodious, harsh-sounding.
1594Spenser Amoretti xliv, Then Orpheus with his harp theyr strife did bar..But, when in hand my tunelesse harp I take, Then doe I more augment my foes despight. 1656Cowley Misc., Swallow 3 Foolish Prater, what dost thou..With thy tuneless Serenade? 1759[H. Dalrymple] Woodstock: an Elegy (1761) 16 His tuneless numbers hardly now survive. 1870Morris Earthly Par. II. iii. 47 The music of her voice Made the birds' song seem tuneless noise.
2. Giving no ‘tune’ or sound; not making music; songless; silent.
1728W. Starrat Epist. 48 in Ramsay's Poems (1877) II. 275 What tuneless heart-strings wadna twang, When love and beauty animate the sang? 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. iv. ii. (1824) II. 337 The Field-fare and the Red-wing..With us..are insipid tuneless birds, flying in flocks. 1821Byron Juan iii. Isles of Greece v, The heroic lay is tuneless now. 1868Geo. Eliot Sp. Gipsy 227 As tuneless as a bag of wool.
3. Without musical knowledge or skill. rare.
1821Byron Juan iv. lxxxvii, An ignorant, noteless, timeless, tuneless fellow.
Hence ˈtunelessly adv., ˈtunelessness.
1881M. Arnold in Macm. Mag. Mar. 370 The slovenliness and tunelessness of much of Byron's production. 1905Q. Couch Shining Ferry ii. xii, Mr. Sam spoke tunelessly. |