harmony
Americannoun
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agreement; accord; harmonious relations.
- Synonyms:
- friendship, amity, peace, unity, concord
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a consistent, orderly, or pleasing arrangement of parts; congruity.
- Synonyms:
- consonance, consistency, correspondence, conformity
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Music.
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any simultaneous combination of tones.
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the simultaneous combination of tones, especially when blended into chords pleasing to the ear; chordal structure, as distinguished from melody and rhythm.
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the science of the structure, relations, and practical combination of chords.
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an arrangement of the contents of the Gospels, either of all four or of the first three, designed to show their parallelism, mutual relations, and differences.
noun
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agreement in action, opinion, feeling, etc; accord
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order or congruity of parts to their whole or to one another
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agreeable sounds
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music
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a collation of the material of parallel narratives, esp of the four Gospels
Synonym Usage
See symmetry. Harmony, melody in music suggest a combination of sounds from voices or musical instruments. Harmony is the blending of simultaneous sounds of different pitch or quality, making chords: harmony in part singing; harmony between violins and horns. Melody is the rhythmical combination of successive sounds of various pitch, making up the tune or air: a tuneful melody to accompany cheerful words.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of harmony
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English armonye, from Middle French, from Latin harmonia, from Greek harmonía “joint, framework, agreement, harmony,” akin to hárma “chariot,” harmós “joint,” ararískein “to join together”
Explanation
Harmony is the sound of things that go together well — people singing in harmony are in tune with each other. Best friends should be in harmony most of the time if they want to stay best buds! Harmony is a noun that describes an agreement, such as in feeling, sound, look, feel, or smell. It’s necessary for roommates to be able to live in harmony in a small space, or they’re in for a wake-up call. In music, harmony is a pleasing combination and progression of chords. If it makes you wince, it’s lacking harmony. Synonyms for harmony include accord, concord, cooperation, like-mindedness, and unanimity. Antonyms, on the other hand, range from clash and disagreement to discord.
Vocabulary lists containing harmony
Unit 1: Telling Details
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25 Words from "Baseball and Black History"
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "H"
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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.
See Examples For:
Many older adults make decisions to preserve family harmony, avoid a never-ending conflict, or simply end a conversation to have a peaceful day.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 6, 2026
I came clean and told Pop the whole story, selling it under the guise of patriotism — and with three-part harmony and a harmonica.
From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2026
Following the protests leaders in Southampton's Sikh community called for "peace and harmony".
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
For the rest of the war, the camp stands as an oasis of international harmony that Ernst will strive to re-create for the rest of his adventure-filled life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
When a good choir sings in harmony without instruments, they will tune without even thinking about it.
From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones
Musically and vocally gifted, they wring harmonies and beats from an assortment of instruments, mixing genres and styles with an eloquence that surpasses the exposition sprinkled into the lyrics.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
They burst into action with an explosion of pyrotechnics and fireworks with Hooligan, which showcased their trademark blend of honeyed harmonies and crisp rap verses.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
Playing a standard tune, he would frequently develop paraphrases of the melody, taking it through unlikely re-imagining of the harmonies of a song.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 26, 2026
Other cinematic companions are inadvertent and more thoughtful, woven together like the harmonies of a duet.
From Salon ● May 25, 2026
Again, again—and it was not the ear that heard the pulsing rhythm, it was the midriff; the wail and clang of those recurring harmonies haunted, not the mind, but the yearning bowels of compassion.
From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
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.
