off-keyadv.adj.
/ˌɒfˈkiː/, U.S. /ˈɔfˈki/, /ˈɑfˈki/ A. adv.
With inaccurate pitch; out of tune.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > tuning or intonation > [adverb] > out of tune
in or out of tunec1450
false1598
out1598
off-key1899
1899 Atlantic Monthly Sept. 337/2 He sang, in a terrible voice and a little off key, some words to a silly tune.
1929 M. Lief Hangover 235 Eulalia Duncan sang so off-key last night that she had great difficulty moving her vowels.
1944 W. H. Auden Sea & Mirror (1945) ii. 57 The ravished coloratura trilling madly off-key.
1977 L. Lowry Summer to Die x. 139 We sang ‘Michael, Row Your Boat Ashore,’ mostly off-key.
2002 New Yorker 23 Sept. 52/1 She sang off key and had trouble with the lyrics.
B. adj.
1. Out of tune; inaccurately pitched.
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
a1918 E. J. Hoyt Buckskin Joe (1966) xi. 118 Brass bands that gave out a tinny, off-key rendition of a military march.
1952 Sci. Amer. May 65 Friends..who sing everything in a monotone or in the same off-key pattern.
1965 G. McInnes Road to Gundagai iii. 53 A faintly off-key piano.
1973 J. Wainwright Devil you Don't 18 He had a peculiar, off-key voice.
1991 F. Buechner Telling Secrets ii. 50 He might at any moment bellow out, in his stentorian off-key baritone, some scrap of music hall ribaldry.
2. figurative. Inappropriate, ill-conceived; acting in an unsuitable or inappropriate way, abnormal, peculiar.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > disharmony or incongruity > unsuitability or inappropriateness > [adjective]
unkinOE
un-i-feieOE
unbecomelyc1200
amissc1325
wrongousa1350
uncovenablec1374
unsitting1390
undue1398
ungainanda1400
unquemea1400
inconvenientc1400
unlikelyc1405
disconvenienta1425
impertinenta1425
discovenablec1436
unmeetc1440
wrongc1440
unjustc1443
unbehovablec1450
inconvenientc1460
uncordial1488
unmeetly1534
unapt1539
unfit1548
incommodious1553
ungreeing1560
impertinent1565
stravagant1565
unproper1566
improper1570
unhovable1570
unapt1579
unbeseeming1583
unsuitablea1586
unappliable1588
unapt1588
unlikely1590
unfittinga1592
unfitted1592
unsuiting1596
unbefitting1598
unsorted1598
unsuited1598
contrary1600
impair1609
unfitty1613
incompetible1621
incongruous1623
infita1626
uncompetiblea1628
inaccommodatea1657
inapplicable1656
inconcinnate1657
inconcinnous1662
inept1675
unaccommodatea1676
incommode1678
indecorous1681
untoward1682
unapplicable1690
insuitable1692
unsuit1704
malapropos1709
inapt1744
out of place1748
uncongenial1788
unfit-like1796
ungain-like1796
inappropriate1804
unadapted1805
dissuitable1807
dissuited1819
ineligible1828
infelicitous1835
unapropos1840
butt-ended1850
malappropriate1851
ungenial1871
misappropriate1878
unbecoming1893
unappropriate1898
unadjusted1899
offside1910
off-key1943
improbable1958
1943 R. Chandler Lady in Lake xxxi. 171 There's something a little off key about everything you do.
1953 N.Y. Times 29 Jan. 25/2 Miss Davis' performance in this scene is foolishly false—a travesty of sexy movie acting, illogical and wholly off-key.
1959 H. Hobson Mission House Murder iii. 24 Off-key characters who live it up like crazy.
1987 Daily Mirror 10 Nov. 9/4 Maybe she was off-key to suggest your lousy food and demands for sex were responsible for the peaky looks displayed by your husband.
2003 G. Joseph Big Smoke i. 12 ‘You still working with Biggs?’..‘No...Things weren't working out. The guy's too off-key for me.’
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adv.adj.1899