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If you are tone-deaf, your ear cannot tell one musical note from another. Play two different notes and they sound the same to you; sing along and you land somewhere near the tune but not on it.
If如果 you are tone-deaf你五音不全，your ear你的耳朵 cannot tell就沒辦法分辨 one musical note from another一個音符和另一個音符的不同。Play two different notes彈兩個不同的音，and they sound the same to you聽起來對你來說都一樣；sing along跟著唱，and you land somewhere near the tune你會唱到旋律附近 but not on it但唱不準。
Most people who say 'I'm tone-deaf' are not really — they just sing badly and have never trained. True tone-deafness is a real and quite rare condition, and doctors call it amusia. So in daily English the phrase mostly means 'I cannot sing', said as a light apology at KTV.
Most大多數 people who say 'I'm tone-deaf'說「我五音不全」的人 are not really其實不是真的——they just sing badly他們只是唱得不好 and have never trained而且從來沒有受過訓練。True tone-deafness真正的音癡 is a real and quite rare condition是一種真實但相當罕見的病症，and doctors call it amusia醫生就稱它為amusia。So所以 in daily English在日常英語裡 the phrase這個說法 mostly means多半就是「I cannot sing我不會唱歌」的意思，said as a light apology at KTV在KTV裡當作一句輕鬆的道歉話說出來。
The second meaning is now more common than the musical one, and you must know it: a tone-deaf person, remark, or advertisement is one that completely misses how other people feel. A company that runs a cheerful sale the week after a disaster is called tone-deaf. This is a strong criticism — it says you were not listening, that you had no sense of the room.
The second meaning第二個意思 is now more common than the musical one現在比音樂上的意思更常見，and you must know it你一定要知道：a tone-deaf person, remark, or advertisement一個tone-deaf的人、發言或廣告 is one that completely misses how other people feel是完全沒感覺到別人感受的那種。A company that runs a cheerful sale the week after a disaster在災難發生後一週還辦歡樂促銷的公司 is called tone-deaf會被說成tone-deaf。This is a strong criticism這是很重的批評——it says you were not listening它是在說你根本沒在聽，that you had no sense of the room完全搞不清楚現場的氣氛。
It comes straight from the musical picture: you could not hear the note everyone else could hear. Note the , and note it is an adjective only: something 'is tone-deaf', it does not 'tone-deaf'.
It comes straight from the musical picture這個說法直接來自音樂的畫面：you could not hear the note everyone else could hear你聽不到別人都聽得到的那個音。Note the hyphen要注意有連字號，and note it is an adjective only還要注意它只能當形容詞：something 'is tone-deaf'東西「是tone-deaf」，it does not 'tone-deaf'而不會有「去tone-deaf」這種說法。
組成tone（音）+ deaf（聽不見）— deaf to differences between tones. A compound of two everyday words, always hyphenated.
同家族的字
- deafunable to hear; the second half
- tonea musical note or sound quality; the first half
- colour-blindbuilt the same way — a sense that cannot tell two things apart, and also used figuratively
原始詞典資料4 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
tone-deafadj
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Unable to clearly distinguish the difference in pitch between different notes.
- Although he was tone-deaf, he was a great lyricist.
- This is a distinction unavailable to the tone-deaf.
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Having little or a shallow or banal appreciation of music, whether or not as a result of tone deafness.
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Out of touch with the experience of ordinary people.
- a politician's tone-deaf remarks about the price of bread
- The elected official's tone-deaf remarks about the operations of the clerk’s office were disappointing.
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Insensitive and offensive as a result of not noticing the current social context.
- Otherwise, saying “N-word” is plenty accurate; I knew exactly what you meant. And arguing for your need to use an explosive term, when a common euphemism will do, makes you seem defensive and tone-deaf.
- The campaign – which Fast Company described as “eyebrow-raising”, “controversial” and “tone-deaf” – did not land well.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。