dissonant
Americanadjective
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disagreeing or harsh in sound; discordant.
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out of harmony; incongruous; at variance.
- Synonyms:
- inconsistent, incongruent, incompatible
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Music. characterized by dissonance.
adjective
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discordant; cacophonous
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incongruous or discrepant
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music characterized by dissonance
Usage
What does dissonant mean? Dissonant is an adjective used to describe noise that’s harsh and inharmonious.It’s also used to describe things that are in stark disagreement or that lack consistency.In both cases, a close synonym is discordant. The state of being dissonant is dissonance.In the context of music, dissonant is used to describe a combination of sounds thought to be inharmonious (often ones intentionally composed to be so). Such a combination (or a chord or interval that features such disharmony) is called dissonance.In psychology, the term cognitive dissonance refers to the unease a person feels when they have two or more contradictory or incompatible beliefs. Such thoughts can be described as dissonant.Example: Leaders in both factions of the party promised harmony, but so far there has been nothing but dissonant rhetoric.
Other Word Forms
- dissonantly adverb
- undissonant adjective
- undissonantly adverb
Etymology
Origin of dissonant
1400–50; late Middle English dissonaunte (< Anglo-French ) < Latin dissonant- (stem of dissonāns, present participle of dissonāre to sound harsh), equivalent to disson- (derivative of dissonus discordant; dis- 1, sound 1 ) + -ant- -ant
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Traditional Latin prayers sung by men have a heavy, chant-like ominousness; the two female angels who appear in the visions convey an urgent, slightly dissonant ecstasy.
As dissonant as these authors and their powerful books might seem, I found value in reading them as a pair.
From Los Angeles Times
The young trio’s minimalist arrangements evoke the clang of downtown post-punk New York, while the new collection’s sly humor and deep well of hooks helped the dissonant turns go down easily.
The striking “Porcelana,” about enduring pain for fleeting pleasure, has a woozy, dissonant arrangement that mixes woodwinds, shrieking strings, and skittering percussion.
But the truth is dissonant, as Stokes pointed out.
From Salon
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.
