Standard Lemma guide

untune

verb · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

verb

Meaning 1

To cause (something) to be out of tune; to make incapable of harmony, or of harmonious action.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

Examples

  • 1800, Thomas Jefferson, letter dated 4 July, 1800, in Henry S. Randall, The Life of Thomas Jefferson, New York: Derby & Jackson, 1858, Volume 2, Chapter 11, p. 565, Our forte-piano arrived a day or two after you left us. It has been exposed to a great deal of rain, but being well covered was only much untuned.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

cause to be out of tune

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • Don't untune that string!

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: tune

Broader terms: change, alter, modify

3

verb

Meaning 3

cause to lose one's composure

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: upset, discompose, disconcert, discomfit

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: arouse, elicit, enkindle, kindle, evoke, fire, raise, provoke

Narrower terms: faze, unnerve, enervate, unsettle, dissolve, bewilder, bemuse, discombobulate, throw, embarrass, abash, pain, anguish, hurt, afflict

History

Etymology

From un- + tune.

Across languages

Translations

14 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: çakordoj — to cause to be out of tune
  • Bulgarian: разстройвам (razstrojvam) — to cause to be out of tune
  • Czech: rozladit — to cause to be out of tune
  • Dutch: ontstemmen — to cause to be out of tune
  • Esperanto: malagordi — to cause to be out of tune
  • French: désaccorder — to cause to be out of tune
  • German: verstimmen — to cause to be out of tune
  • Hungarian: elhangol — to cause to be out of tune
  • Italian: scordare — to cause to be out of tune
  • Lithuanian: išderinti — to cause to be out of tune
  • Polish: rozstroić — to cause to be out of tune
  • Portuguese: desafinar — to cause to be out of tune
  • Russian: расстроить (rasstroitʹ) — to cause to be out of tune
  • Spanish: destemplar — to cause to be out of tune