non-musical

Word family

• music
  nounA1
• musical
  adjectiveB1
• musically
  adverbB2
• musician
  nounA2

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/3

Non-musical describes a person, family, or group with no real skill or interest in music. Unmusical is the closest match in meaning but feels slightly more formal and is often used in writing rather than speech. Tone-deaf is stronger and more specific — it says the person cannot tell one musical note from another, which is a particular kind of weakness rather than a general lack of interest. Amateur points to a person who plays for fun rather than as a job; an amateur singer still has skill, while a non-musical person does not. Untrained simply means the person has never learned formally, so a singer can be untrained but still naturally gifted. A non-musical guest at a karaoke night will laugh and pass the microphone; a tone-deaf guest will sing loudly but off-key.

Common collocations

Etymology

Non-musical joins the prefix non-, meaning 'not', with musical, which came into English in the late 14th century from Old French musical and Medieval Latin musicalis. The Latin root musica goes back to the Greek mousike, meaning 'art of the Muses', the goddesses of song and dance. The compound began appearing in English in the 19th century, first to describe events without music, and later spread to cover voices that sound unpleasant and people who lack musical skill.