discordant

adjective

dis·cor·dant di-ˈskȯr-dᵊnt

Synonyms of discordant next

: being at variance : disagreeing

discordant opinions

: quarrelsome

a discordant family

music : relating to a discord (see discord entry 1 sense 2)

a discordant tone

discordantly adverb

Did you know?

Discord, a word more common in earlier centuries than today, means basically "conflict", so discordant often means "conflicting". The opinions of Supreme Court justices are frequently discordant; justices who disagree with the Court's decision usually write a dissenting opinion. Discordant is often used with a somewhat musical meaning, suggesting that a single wrong note or harmony has been heard in the middle of a performance—even though musical words such as chord actually come from a different Latin word, meaning "cord" or "string" (a reference to the strings of ancient instruments such as the lyre).

Examples of discordant in a Sentence

She has the difficult task of bringing together a number of discordant elements. discordant tones coming from the poorly tuned instrument

Recent Examples on the Web Those two realities are discordant for too many moments on Utopia. —

Andre Gee, Rolling Stone, 31 July 2023 Pilot director Marc Jobst, production designer Richard Bridgland, costume designer Diana Cilliers and legions of crew members make this visual chaos a deliberately discordant symphony of CGI and practical effects. —

Alison Herman, Variety, 31 Aug. 2023 Remain conscious of the discordant seeds your mom plants. —

Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 14 Aug. 2023 On July 21, discordant hordes dressed in hot pink or black flocked to theaters. —

Sasha Richie, Dallas News, 4 Aug. 2023 This month’s discordant slate of new releases just might pack the box office punch to finally, irredeemably prove it. —

Jessica Gelt, Los Angeles Times, 12 July 2023 Yet fast forward to today, a discordant note strikes. —

Les Borsai, SPIN, 26 June 2023 The timing of some of the biggest pay packages struck a discordant note against the backdrop of difficult times for their industries. —

Alexandra Olson, oregonlive, 31 May 2023 Music supervision by Insecure’s Kier Lehman and Daniel Pemberton’s composition helps bridge these seemingly discordant parts with a stable sound. —

Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 May 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'discordant.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.