dissonant

adjective

ˈdi-sə-nənt How to pronounce dissonant (audio)
Definition of dissonantnext
as in shrill
marked by or producing a harsh combination of sounds a dissonant chorus of noises arose from the busy construction site

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of dissonant As things got crazier with our heroes and the Supes, things became more dissonant. — Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 12 June 2026 That question is at the crux of Irish filmmaker John Carney’s sixth sometimes magical, at times tonally dissonant solo directorial feature. — Randy Myers, Mercury News, 3 June 2026 But recent research found that members of the Tsimane’, a native Amazonian society in Bolivia, rate consonant and dissonant chords as equally pleasurable. — Literary Hub, 20 May 2026 The crowd sings the chorus in dissonant harmony. — Christopher Buchanan, Los Angeles Times, 18 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for dissonant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dissonant
  1. shrill
  2. noisy
  3. cacophonous
  4. unpleasant
  5. discordant
  6. metallic
  7. unmusical
  8. inharmonious
Adjective
  • Amid the rumblings of construction at nearby David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, the sound of a shrill whistle and chopping feet at the nearby Murfin Family Practice Fields signaled one thing.
    — Christian Marshall, Kansas City Star, 5 Aug. 2026
  • That trademark indecision of summer takes root in her words and spreads through the music until her vocals diverge in the chorus, peeling like a clementine’s skin as one shrill line scales upward and the other remains monotone.
    — Hattie Lindert, Pitchfork, 21 July 2026
Definition of shrill
Adjective
  • Follow the idea that opens the room, not the one that makes everything noisier.
    — Tarot.com, Chicago Tribune, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Bose Bluetooth Headphones Deal Bose QuietComfort headphones deliver legendary noise cancellation, allowing students to effortlessly block out noisy study halls or loud dorm rooms.
    — Juhi Wadia, PC Magazine, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of noisy
Adjective
  • Despite its simple premise, Raimi’s eccentric, expressive filmmaking style, combined with the film’s unyielding, cacophonous splatter horror, made The Evil Dead instantly notorious.
    — Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 10 July 2026
  • In its cacophonous surroundings, the White House stood serene.
    — Mark Puleo, New York Times, 11 June 2026
Definition of cacophonous
Adjective
  • Wyman was a happy warrior — often partisan, but rarely unpleasant.
    — Mark Pazniokas, Hartford Courant, 12 Aug. 2026
  • The day’s unpleasant winds eventually drive us indoors to the nearby, and aptly named, John’s Coffee Shop.
    — Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of unpleasant
Adjective
  • Above all, the overwrought thirty-two-dollar packet of luxury strikes a discordant note in a restaurant that seems, in every other way, to have no need for such clunky signifiers.
    — Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 26 July 2026
  • In their third and final decade as one of America’s greatest bands, Sonic Youth had all but given up on pushing their discordant art rock into the mainstream.
    — Al Shipley, SPIN, 29 June 2026
Definition of discordant
Adjective
  • The exterior of the vehicle is finished in a Manufaktur-exclusive, non-metallic hue called Light Ivory.
    — Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 12 Aug. 2026
  • One ballerina selected from her stash a leotard whose gray velour later read as metallic silver under the studio lights during her grand adagio.
    — Claire Salinda, Los Angeles Times, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of metallic
Adjective
  • Those songs remind Omara of real people and real events, political interludes whose senselessness and brutality have left unmusical lacunae in her life.
    — Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 18 Dec. 2023
  • His parents were unmusical Russian-Jewish immigrants who ran various businesses with mixed success.
    — The Economist, The Economist, 3 Oct. 2019
Definition of unmusical
Adjective
  • We are made loving, good, and pure – entirely free from any inharmonious tendency.
    — Margaret Rogers, Christian Science Monitor, 15 Apr. 2026
  • Setting Discordant Personal Goals A 2023 study published in Current Psychology finds that partners’ inharmonious goals can have detrimental effects on relationships.
    — Mark Travers, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
Definition of inharmonious

Browse Nearby Words

dissonances
dissonant
dissuade
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Cite this Entry

“Dissonant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dissonant. Accessed 14 Aug. 2026.

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