cacophony

[kuh-kof-uh-nee]

noun

plural

cacophonies 

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.

cacophony

/ kəˈkɒfənɪ /

noun

1. harsh discordant sound; dissonance

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

Other Word Forms

• cacophonic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of cacophony¹

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

Example Sentences

Pavements remain scarred by bullet holes and ruined buildings still line many streets, but the city's cacophony is now one of construction, not destruction.

Read more on Barron's

The children carried on at full volume, a cacophony of shouting and taunting and weeping.

Read more on Literature

Lord Fredrick pointed his weapon every which way, causing a cacophony of shouts and screams to rise from the assembled guests.

Read more on Literature

In his sophomore feature, Fabbro, who previously directed the 2021 romantic thriller “The Grand Bolero,” juxtaposes the quiet grace of Igor’s modest life with the cacophony and commercialism of contemporary truffle auctions.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

It was a busy evening as usual on Monday near the Red Fort metro station in India's capital Delhi when the sound of a loud explosion broke the cacophony.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• noise