How to Use atonal in a Sentence

atonal

adjective
  • The result is a distant, atonal film that feels more slippery than evocative.
    — Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 Oct. 2022
  • The atonal ethos of that film and the short video works Lynch has made since are present now in Twin Peaks.
    — Corey Atad, Esquire, 22 May 2017
  • Other cuts start as pop songs before crashing into atonal messes and freak rock chaos.
    — Jed Gottlieb, Boston Herald, 13 Sep. 2025
  • Not unexpectedly, the horror films had a lot of harsh and atonal screams.
    — Rachel Ehrenberg, WIRED, 26 May 2010
  • Most of the initial score's lyrics were from the Episcopal hymnal and the songs were atonal.
    — Mark Kennedy, Star Tribune, 10 May 2021
  • But these faint traces of the familiar are swept away in the same current — subsumed by the atonal crush of the music.
    — Washington Post, 28 Jan. 2022
  • Many would call him the master of modern [atonal] music — music that for most people does not sound melodic.
    — Jeffrey Fleishman, Los Angeles Times, 3 June 2024
  • In their hands that meant addictively atonal patchworks of stretch lace and glimmering knits, slouchy wide-wale cords and big faux-fur coats.
    — Vanessa Friedman, New York Times, 16 Feb. 2024
  • Conservatives cherished him as a bulwark against atonal chaos.
    — Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 29 Aug. 2022
  • The episode lurched between the show’s typical style and scenes enhanced by atonal, suspenseful sounds and a shaky-cam effect.
    — Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 19 June 2017
  • When quirkily melodious new wave tried to make punk cute, the Bowery gobbled it all up and puked up atonal filth-art no wave.
    — Jonathan Rowe, Spin, 11 Aug. 2023
  • The trio ripped through their set, which also featured a Cline cameo, and brought an atonal, free-jazz element to their old-school punk pedigree.
    — Jonah Bayer, SPIN, 31 May 2022
  • Some of it is almost atonal and experimental.
    — Steve Appleford, SPIN, 6 Apr. 2026
  • Some have compared Benjamin’s music to an atonal Pelléas et Mélisande.
    — David Patrick Stearns, Philly.com, 10 Feb. 2018
  • Murky, atonal music swells into collections of chords that resembles human moans.
    — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 19 Sep. 2023
  • The serenade moves from traditional harmonies to atonal stylings.
    — Tim Diovanni, Dallas News, 21 Apr. 2021
  • There are a lot of atonal, amelodic ways of being in it that were just wholly improvisational and textural.
    — Chris Willman, Variety, 21 June 2023
  • The first concert starts with Ciani’s signature ocean sounds before Cunningham’s chords—dull, glassy—add an atonal sheen.
    — Andrew Ryce, Pitchfork, 9 Apr. 2026
  • First came a short atonal improvisation, just because, Lang explained.
    — Los Angeles Times, 30 July 2019
  • However, Yorke’s abrasive and atonal soundscapes best channel Donne’s rage against the machine.
    — Jon O'Brien, SPIN, 26 Jan. 2024
  • One afternoon, we were presented with an avant-garde, atonal work featuring, among other things, singers dressed as large, iridescent worms that writhed across the stage.
    — New York Times, 2 Jan. 2022
  • Inside, two atonal compositions (one by Young and one by the artist Jung Hee Choi) play on large speakers.
    — Amanda Petrusich, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024
  • Blood, on the other hand, has the size and shape of an old-school Hollywood epic but also the anxious, atonal soul of something more contemporary.
    — A.a. Dowd, Chron, 10 Mar. 2023
  • It’s all performed in a childlike sing-songy yet occasional atonal operatic recitative.
    — Matthew J. Palm, orlandosentinel.com, 18 May 2021
  • Berg folds remnants of tonality, plush colorings, sweeping lyrical lines and sheer orchestral din into his atonal language.
    — Anthony Tommasini, New York Times, 11 Nov. 2016
  • The author jumps from one abstruse analysis to another, each chapter ending like a piece of atonal music, with no resolution or sense of closure.
    — Barton Swaim, WSJ, 22 Feb. 2019
  • Inside these tender, atonal tracks are discreet, cryptic ruminations on growing a family, building a little colony of your own.
    — Sheldon Pearce, The New Yorker, 5 Oct. 2021
  • Among the booming, atonal sound design, Garland editorializes with a few cheeky needle-drops.
    — Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 11 Apr. 2024
  • Loosely atonal, the piece is characterized by brooding passages and accented, Stravinskian rhythms.
    — Barbara Jepson, WSJ, 21 June 2022
  • Go-to composer Alberto Iglesias can be counted on to provide his eclectic blend of melodic orchestral and atonal avant-garde styles.
    — Bill Desowitz, IndieWire, 2 Sep. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'atonal.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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