as in shrill
marked by or producing a harsh combination of sounds
a dissonant chorus of noises arose from the busy construction site
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Recent Examples of dissonant
A little past the halfway point, a heavy drumbeat crashes in and their voice distorts into screams and screeches, transforming the song from folk lament to dissonant protest.
—
Nia Coats, Pitchfork, 18 May 2026
Eisenberg plays a lot of acoustic guitar, sticks mostly to normie chords, and largely avoids dissonant tangles, opting for a bright, translucent sound.
—Reed Jackson, SPIN, 6 Apr. 2026
The contrast of the narrative established by the plates is comparable to jazz music, with its rhythm and repetition broken up by unexpected and sometimes dissonant improvisations, the Art Institute said.
—Adam Harrington, CBS News, 3 Feb. 2026
That film, which starred Stanfield alongside Tessa Thompson, established Riley as a filmmaker unafraid to blend satire with surreal, often dissonant ideas.
—Kennedy French, Variety, 27 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dissonant
Nia Coats, Pitchfork, 18 May 2026
Eisenberg plays a lot of acoustic guitar, sticks mostly to normie chords, and largely avoids dissonant tangles, opting for a bright, translucent sound.
—Reed Jackson, SPIN, 6 Apr. 2026
The contrast of the narrative established by the plates is comparable to jazz music, with its rhythm and repetition broken up by unexpected and sometimes dissonant improvisations, the Art Institute said.
—Adam Harrington, CBS News, 3 Feb. 2026
That film, which starred Stanfield alongside Tessa Thompson, established Riley as a filmmaker unafraid to blend satire with surreal, often dissonant ideas.
—Kennedy French, Variety, 27 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dissonant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dissonant
Adjective
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On shrill winter nights, Moscow’s power is conspicuous, its Orthodox cathedrals and Stalinist high-rises illuminated, though the view falls dim in the autumn and spring, shrouded in sheets of greige.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Apr. 2026
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The chaos is still an acceptable price to pay for Birney’s expertly offputting performance, a shrill mania that gets increasingly comic over time.—
Alison Herman,
Variety,
26 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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With the spin-off and FDX adopting a new fiscal calendar, Wells cautioned that next week's earnings report could be noisy.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
17 June 2026
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With the scramble to build data centers and their voracious appetite for electricity, many centers are building their own noisy, off-grid, diesel- or gas-fired power plants.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
16 June 2026
Adjective
-
In its cacophonous surroundings, the White House stood serene.—
Mark Puleo,
New York Times,
11 June 2026
-
In the black and Carrara marble lobby, the vibe is modern and futuristic, with a cacophonous waterfall tumbling down the walls in a stream of fluorescent colors and a lone scarlet grand piano bringing a pleasing pop of color.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
27 May 2026
Adjective
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Residents who have discussed the issue online described the smell as one of the most unpleasant aspects of the ongoing seaweed buildup.—
Kelly McGreal,
FOXNews.com,
13 June 2026
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The figure-skimming silhouette also prevents the unpleasant feeling of sweating in too-tight clothes.—
Sophie Dodd,
Travel + Leisure,
12 June 2026
Adjective
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Candidates also say the interim mayor must return order to meetings, which have become increasingly discordant as the public interrupts proceedings and occasionally hurls pointed insults at council members.—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
15 June 2026
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Some critics view gladiatorial displays of violence as inappropriate for a historic anniversary and complain that the spectacle hits a discordant note amid war in Iran and rising prices.—
Zac Anderson,
USA Today,
12 June 2026
Adjective
-
All three used transparency selectively, pairing it with a colored or metallic base rather than relying on a fully clear shoe.—
Maggie Clancy,
Footwear News,
13 June 2026
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In the primary bathroom, Italian art students hand-painted the mirrors with similarly metallic hues, which complement the brass basins hammered by a Lebanese artist.—
Nicolas Milon,
Architectural Digest,
13 June 2026
Adjective
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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
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His parents were unmusical Russian-Jewish immigrants who ran various businesses with mixed success.—
The Economist,
The Economist,
3 Oct. 2019
Adjective
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Jesus proved over and over again the all-encompassing authority of God, which destroys all inharmonious conditions, including sin and disease.—
Thomas Mitchinson,
Christian Science Monitor,
30 Sep. 2025
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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
Cite this Entry
“Dissonant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dissonant. Accessed 20 Jun. 2026.
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