discordance

American  

[dis-kawr-dns] / dɪsˈkɔr dns /

noun

1. a discordant state; disagreement; discord.

2. an instance of this.

3. dissonance.

4. Geology. lack of parallelism between adjacent strata, as in an angular unconformity.

5. (in genetic studies) the degree of dissimilarity in a pair of twins with respect to the presence or absence of a disease or trait.

---

discordance British  

/ dɪsˈkɔːdəns /

noun

1. geology an arrangement of rock strata in which the older underlying ones dip at a different angle from the younger overlying ones; unconformity

2. lack of agreement or consonance

3. variants of discord

---

Etymology

Origin of discordance

1300–50; Middle English < Anglo-French discordaunce, descordance; see discord, -ance

Example Sentences

Something that creates the tension of discordance, but that feels like there is a sense of some kind of completion, even if it is like a bit of a sub-chapter.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2025

Testing for apoB rather than LDL-C could identify people who are at high risk due to this discordance.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 8, 2024

Yehoshua captured the discordance of living in a land fraught with moral and political conundrums.

From New York Times • Jun. 16, 2022

Usually that discordance is taken to signal a psychological, rather than physical, issue.

From Slate • Apr. 25, 2021

I pounded my unease into the keys, hoping the discordance would drive him away, but he held on.

From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago