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

And the cacophony inside also started hours before the start and, when the action began, every Liverpool touch was greeted with deafening, piercing whistles.

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What they're greeted by instead are crowds, traffic and the cacophony of construction, which has ramped up alongside a post-pandemic boom in tourism.

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It's a far cry from the noise and cacophony of central London's streets last Saturday where police estimate between 110,000 and 150,000 people gathered to protest.

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A cacophony of Labour voices now, via an official party process, are offering their views in public about whether the government is any good or not.

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Voices echo through the vast, concrete space and a cacophony of drills and electric lifts beep, buzz and blare.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• noise