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Which sound could be described as a cacophony?

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cacophony

American  

[kuh-kof-uh-nee] / kəˈkɒf ə ni /

noun

• cacophonies
  plural

1. 

   harsh or unpleasant discordance of sound; dissonance.

   After living in the country, it's difficult for me to adjust to the cacophony produced by city traffic.

2. a discordant and meaningless mixture of sounds.

   The sound effects included a cacophony of hoots, cackles, and wails.

3. Music. frequent use of harsh, discordant notes or chords that seem to be patternless and without connection to each other.

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cacophony British  

/ kəˈkɒfənɪ /

noun

1. harsh discordant sound; dissonance

2. the use of unharmonious or dissonant speech sounds in language

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• cacophonic
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• cacophonies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of cacophony

First recorded in 1650–60; from New Latin cacophonia, from Greek kakophōnía; equivalent to caco- + -phony

Explanation

A cacophony is a mishmash of unpleasant sounds, often at loud volume. It's what you'd hear if you gave instruments to a group of four-year-olds and asked them to play one of Beethoven's symphonies. A cacophony is a jarring, discordant mix of sounds that have no business being played together. When the orchestra tunes up before a show, it sounds like a cacophony because each musician is playing a completely different tune, at different times, and at different volumes. Once the show begins, that cacophony had better turn into a melody, or audiences will demand a refund. This allegedly occurred during the first time Igor Stravinsky's score for the ballet "The Rite of Spring" was performed because its difficult composition and discordant tone was shocking.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cacophony cacophonies

For years, the cacophony of beeping and buzzing has been not only annoying—preventing patients from getting much needed rest—but potentially hazardous as overwhelmed healthcare professionals tune them out.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

But these sights are drained of their warmth, depicted with a cold, eerie hum that, when it bleeds into the roar of suffering miles away, becomes a deafening cacophony.

From Salon ● Sep. 21, 2026

The safest way to escape the cacophony is to reach for noise-canceling headphones.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

The recorded confessions, layered over one another until they become an unintelligible cacophony, represent just one piece of the 25 paintings, photographs and interactive displays in the exhibition.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026

After the cacophony of shattering sugar, it does not take long for the diners to realize that, though the globes appeared identical, each of them has been presented with an entirely unique flavor.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

But much of the prominent fiction of 2022 met the moment and captured this fragmentation, thick with code-switching, style-shifting and cacophonies of anxious narration.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 20, 2022

The cacophony of viewpoints in a nation unafraid to express them seemed to yield what such cacophonies often yield: muddle.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 21, 2022

The cacophonies indirectly and directly harm animals, of course, interfering with their reproductive patterns, reducing their habitats, fragmenting their communities and sometimes killing them outright.

From Scientific American ● Mar. 24, 2022

But the score is beautiful, with patterns and loops and cacophonies that echo Evan’s mind.

From New York Times ● Aug. 8, 2016

He eliminated from French verse hiatus, enjambement, inversions, false and imperfect rhymes, and licenses or cacophonies of all kinds.

From A History of Literary Criticism in the Renaissance With special reference to the influence of Italy in the formation and development of modern classicism by Joel Elias Spingarn

Related Words

• noise