discordant

adjective

dis·​cor·​dant di-ˈskȯr-dᵊnt How to pronounce discordant (audio)
1
a
: being at variance : disagreeing
discordant opinions
b
: quarrelsome
a discordant family
2
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 But that discordant strangeness is also its allure. Stephanie Bunbury, Deadline, 5 Sep. 2024 The continual reappearance of such discordant voices throughout China’s communist history hints that political control, economic growth, and infrastructure alone do not necessarily make a durable nation. Orville Schell, Foreign Affairs, 22 June 2021 The discordant meeting came two months after Space Force officials admitted for the first time that sonic booms from rocket launches at the base were regularly rattling residents and wildlife along roughly 100 miles of coast across Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties. Salvador Hernandez, Los Angeles Times, 9 Aug. 2024 The issue is that there’s not much else left to occupy almost seven hours of television, and the show’s glacial pace and discordant interludes become numbing in their own way. Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 26 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for discordant 

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.

Word History

Etymology

see discord entry 2

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of discordant was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near discordant

Cite this Entry

“Discordant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discordant. Accessed 3 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

discordant

adjective
dis·​cord·​ant
dis-ˈkȯrd-ᵊnt
1
a
: not being in agreement
discordant opinions
b
: quarrelsome
a discordant family
2
: relating to or producing a discord
discordant music
discordantly adverb

Medical Definition

discordant

adjective
dis·​cor·​dant dis-ˈkȯrd-ᵊnt How to pronounce discordant (audio)
of twins
: dissimilar with respect to one or more particular characters compare concordant
discordance noun

More from Merriam-Webster on discordant

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