dissonant

adjective

ˈdi-sə-nənt How to pronounce dissonant (audio)
Definition of dissonantnext
as in shrill
marked by or producing a harsh combination of sounds a dissonant chorus of noises arose from the busy construction site

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of dissonant In 49 games for Brazil, his goal return struck a dissonant chord with the Ballon d’Or campaign that Madrid waged on his behalf only two years ago, when a delegation infamously abandoned the ceremony in Paris upon learning that Manchester City’s midfielder Rodri was to be announced the winner. — James Horncastle, New York Times, 14 June 2026 As things got crazier with our heroes and the Supes, things became more dissonant. — Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 12 June 2026 That question is at the crux of Irish filmmaker John Carney’s sixth sometimes magical, at times tonally dissonant solo directorial feature. — Randy Myers, Mercury News, 3 June 2026 But recent research found that members of the Tsimane’, a native Amazonian society in Bolivia, rate consonant and dissonant chords as equally pleasurable. — Literary Hub, 20 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for dissonant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dissonant
  1. shrill
  2. noisy
  3. cacophonous
  4. unpleasant
  5. discordant
  6. metallic
  7. unmusical
  8. inharmonious
Adjective
  • With a soprano voice that’s sharp but never shrill, O’Donovan can levitate a heartfelt melody over just about any kind of accompaniment.
    — Mark Jenkins, Washington Post, 30 Sep. 2026
  • When Caleb Hammer, a thirty-one-year-old personal-finance YouTuber, gets particularly exasperated, his voice enters a shrill upper register.
    — Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of shrill
Adjective
  • Lucy refurbishes their noisy slab arrangements into massive walls of buzzing texture, like a cross between a fashionable rave and a final boss battle.
    — H.D. Angel, Pitchfork, 8 Oct. 2026
  • In a place where others might have heard a gunshot, or the noisy retreat of a car on three good tires.
    — Thomas Lake, AJC.com, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of noisy
Adjective
  • In one, during a ribbon-cutting ceremony to unveil the new White House helipad, a project the president has shown tremendous pride in, he couldn’t be heard over the cacophonous din of Marine One.
    — Aidan McLaughlin, Vanity Fair, 24 Sep. 2026
  • Anyone who stands in front of De Kooning’s urgent, sensuously greedy drawings, with their writhing contours, cacophonous colors, and perverse processes, can feel the force of that craving.
    — Sebastian Smee, The Atlantic, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of cacophonous
Adjective
  • As unpleasant as his job might be at the moment, Harbaugh is ostensibly safe.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Depriving the plant of light discourages the development of chlorophyll—the green plant pigment responsible for color—and rids the chicory of an unpleasant flavor.
    — Tamar Adler, Vogue, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of unpleasant
Adjective
  • Trump has been, perhaps, the most discordant messenger of the administration when discussing Iran.
    — Christopher Buchanan, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2026
  • The constant contrast between pristine nature and industrial machinery is accompanied by a discordant synth-heavy score by composer Robert Nacken, that, at times, pushes the film along and, at others, deliberately drags against it.
    — Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of discordant
Adjective
  • The sandal was made unique with knotted strap and gold metallic orb details.
    — Jaden Thompson, Footwear News, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Both peripherals have a dual-tone white-and-metallic-silver color scheme.
    — Michael Justin Allen Sexton, PC Magazine, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of metallic
Adjective
  • Those songs remind Omara of real people and real events, political interludes whose senselessness and brutality have left unmusical lacunae in her life.
    — Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 18 Dec. 2023
  • His parents were unmusical Russian-Jewish immigrants who ran various businesses with mixed success.
    — The Economist, The Economist, 3 Oct. 2019
Definition of unmusical
Adjective
  • We are made loving, good, and pure – entirely free from any inharmonious tendency.
    — Margaret Rogers, Christian Science Monitor, 15 Apr. 2026
  • Setting Discordant Personal Goals A 2023 study published in Current Psychology finds that partners’ inharmonious goals can have detrimental effects on relationships.
    — Mark Travers, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
Definition of inharmonious

Browse Nearby Words

dissonances
dissonant
dissuade
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Cite this Entry

“Dissonant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dissonant. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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