Meaning of strike a false note | Babel Free

Definitions

To give the impression of being insincere, incongruous or inappropriate.

idiomatic

Examples

“But she crossed out “I do understand”; it struck a false note. Henry could not bear to be understood.”

“He dressed in a mannered fashion with turned-back cuffs and double slits to his coat, bow-ties and fancy waistcoats. He made a good-living, wine-and-food-society impression in which only the slow, rather cunning blue eyes struck a false note.”

“He knew what stories to whisper and when not to tell stories at all and knew, too, when the business was over, never to make reference to what had been said. ¶ Put simply this was a man who had learned never to strike a false note.”

CEFR level