dissonant

adjective dis·so·nant \ -nənt \

Definition of dissonant

1 :marked by dissonance :discordant

2 :incongruous

3 :harmonically unresolved

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dissonantly

adverb

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Examples of dissonant in a Sentence

a dissonant chorus of noises arose from the busy construction site

Recent Examples of dissonant from the Web

After a dissonant start to the fall, musicians of the Philadelphia Orchestra are ending the season in unison, contributing a total of $74,000 to the organization that employs them.

— peter dobrin, Philly.com, "No hard feelings: Philadelphia Orchestra musicians give $74K to help employer reach fund goal," 18 Aug. 2017
However, in a slightly dissonant salute to the monument's original purpose, the granite pedestal supporting the obelisk would remain the same.

— the washington post, AL.com, "A police car damaged an Alabama Confederate monument and reopened a town's painful wounds," 20 July 2017
Songs in the middle of the record are marked by tight, dissonant arrangements where the core of Jones, guitarist Jeff Libersher, and bassist Dante Kester create lockstep patterns with a slew of harmony singers and horn players.

— peter margasak, Chicago Reader, "With Putting Off Death, their first album in six years, veteran art-rock oddballs Cheer-Accident continue to confound," 20 July 2017
The detached qualities of instigators and bystanders in these works strike a dissonant chord.

— elizabeth kramer, The Courier-Journal, "Speed Art Museum's ambitious Southern Accent show is a 'jukebox experience'," 12 July 2017
But its impulse to alternate these storylines with sitcom-ready moments has never felt so dissonant.

— sophie gilbert, The Atlantic, "The Jaunty Horror of Orange Is the New Black," 19 June 2017
These dissonant readings point to an increasing mismatch between workers’ skills and the roles employers are seeking to fill, a conflict measured by the Beveridge curve, which tracks the relationship between unemployment and job vacancies.

— lev borodovsky, WSJ, "Stars Not Aligned for Job Openings and Skills," 12 June 2017
The bear can be seen wandering around the apartment and at one point went to a piano, putting its paws on the keys playing a few loud and dissonant notes.

— chris stirewalt, Fox News, "Reality winners and losers," 6 June 2017
Adding to the dissonant image, Trump’s wife, Melania, and daughter, Ivanka, stood next to the president, silently staring off into the distance, their somber expressions heightened by their all black outfits.

— jonathan lemire, The Seattle Times, "Sounds of silence? Trump’s body language speaks volumes," 26 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dissonant.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

The root of "dissonant" is the Latin verb sonare. Can you guess what "sonare" means? Here's a hint: some related derivatives are "sonata," "supersonic," and "resonance." Does it sound to you as if "sonare" has something to do with sound? If so, you're right. In fact, sonare means "to sound, is related to the Latin noun sonus (meaning "sound"), and is an ancestor of the English word sound. "Dissonant" includes the negative prefix dis-. What is "dissonant," therefore, sounds inharmonic, conflicting, or clashing.

Origin and Etymology of dissonant

Middle English dissonaunte, from Latin dissonant-, dissonans, present participle of dissonare to be discordant, from dis- + sonare to sound — more at sound

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

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