cacophonous
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of cacophonous
From the Greek word kakóphōnos, dating back to 1790–1800. See caco-, -phone, -ous
Explanation
The adjective cacophonous describes loud, harsh sounds, like the cacophonous racket your brother and his band mates make while trying to learn how to play their instruments. To correctly pronounce cacophonous, accent the second syllable: "cuh-CAW-fuh-nus." It is related to the Greek words kakos, meaning "bad, evil," and phone, or "voice." You may feel like you're facing something evil if you’re bombarded by the cacophonous sounds of, say, political pundits yelling at one another, or the chaotic sounds of traffic and voices on a busy urban street. Cacophonous is the opposite of harmonious.
Vocabulary lists containing cacophonous
100 SAT words Beginning with "C"
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Turn It Up! Synonyms for "Loud"
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Paper Towns
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
