tin-eared
adjective
informaluk/ˌtɪn ˈɪəd/us/ˌtɪn ˈɪrd/showinganinabilitytoappreciate(= toenjoyand make goodjudgmentsabout)musicor the way that wordssound:
He haspromisedthat by thetimetheWorldCupfinalscome around nextyearhis tin-earedteamwill beabletosingthenationalanthem.
Even if you can makesenseof theterribleplot, you willhatethe tin-eareddialogue.
showinganinabilitytounderstandpeople'sfeelingsasexpressedin what they are saying or doing:
Businesses are often tin-eared whenhearingcomplaints.
- Thecostumeslookbeautiful, but themusicalarrangementsand tin-earedlyricsare anauralinsult.
- Listening isn't alwayseasy. A University of California-Los Angelespsychologisthasconductedstudiesthat might beinstructivefor tin-earedhusbands.
- Theorganizationboastsa tin-earedmissionstatement: "Serving citizen-consumers in thedigitalage."
Inability and awkwardness
- accident-prone
- adorkable
- all thumbsidiom
- amateurish
- amateurishly
- for toffeeidiom
- fumble
- functional illiteracy
- gauche
- geek
- jack-of-all-trades
- jack-of-all-trades, master of noneidiom
- klutzy
- like a bull in a china shopidiom
- lost
- unable
- uncoordinated
- uneducable
- unenterprising
- unequal
You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Musical performances
Unaware