amusia means the inability to comprehend or respond to music. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why “amusia” is a great word
AMUSIA — [Noun] A neurological condition characterized by the inability to recognize, comprehend, or respond to musical sounds or structures. From Late Latin amusia, from Ancient Greek ἀμουσία (amousía, "without harmony"), from ἄμουσος (ámousos, "without song"), from ἀ- (a-, "without") + μοῦσα (moûsa, "muse, song, art"). First attested in English in 1864. Unlike aphasia, which cleaves the link to language, or colloquial tone-deafness, which implies mere lack of skill, amusia is a specific disconnection of the brain's melodic wiring. It is hearing a symphony as the clatter of dropped pans, finding a national anthem indistinguishable from a dial tone, and staring blankly at a room of weeping listeners—a profound isolation from the shared song of being.
Etymology
From Late Latin amusia, from Ancient Greek ἀμουσία (amousía, “without harmony”), from ἄμουσος (ámousos, “without song”). The Muses were nine daughters of Zeus and the goddesses of arts and sciences.
noun
- The inability to comprehend or respond to music.