as in shrill
marked by or producing a harsh combination of sounds
the cacophonous chaos on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange
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Recent Examples of cacophonous
The time has come to accept that one’s voice might be fractured, imperfect, cacophonous and a bit unhinged.
—
Literary Hub, 14 Apr. 2026
Miami Music Week is at its zenith this weekend, its cacophonous diversions and decibels aimed at the spring break crowd and other ears that haven’t been around for very long, highlighted by the DJ bonfire known as Ultra Music Festival.
—Ben Crandell, Sun Sentinel, 25 Mar. 2026
Upon our arrival at the gates of Allianz Parque, Latinidad spilled out of every corner in a cacophonous mix of languages — Portuguese, Spanish, English and even some French — fashion and excited energy.
—Carlos De Loera, Los Angeles Times, 27 Feb. 2026
The cacophonous construction in the film opening scene is of a ramshackle company hut for Junior’s whole family to live in — nothing more than a one-room shed, it’s cramped and unequal to the coming rainy season.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 22 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for cacophonous
Literary Hub, 14 Apr. 2026
Miami Music Week is at its zenith this weekend, its cacophonous diversions and decibels aimed at the spring break crowd and other ears that haven’t been around for very long, highlighted by the DJ bonfire known as Ultra Music Festival.
—Ben Crandell, Sun Sentinel, 25 Mar. 2026
Upon our arrival at the gates of Allianz Parque, Latinidad spilled out of every corner in a cacophonous mix of languages — Portuguese, Spanish, English and even some French — fashion and excited energy.
—Carlos De Loera, Los Angeles Times, 27 Feb. 2026
The cacophonous construction in the film opening scene is of a ramshackle company hut for Junior’s whole family to live in — nothing more than a one-room shed, it’s cramped and unequal to the coming rainy season.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 22 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for cacophonous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cacophonous
Adjective
-
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
-
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
-
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 Brooklyn psych-folk artist’s 2025 debut, newly reissued by AD 93, is dissonant, ghostly, and otherworldly, summoning complex emotions with sparse tools.—
Vrinda Jagota,
Pitchfork,
19 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Around 5,000 people reside in the town, give or take the shifting sub-population of soldiers from the Japanese Self-Defense Forces who ship in and out for noisy munitions drills in the mountains nearby.—
Leslie Felperin,
HollywoodReporter,
13 May 2026
-
Poor-quality headphones that skimp on noise cancellation, battery life, or comfortability can quickly turn a noisy flight into an absolute nightmare.—
Amelia McBride,
Travel + Leisure,
13 May 2026
Adjective
-
And since each state tax operates under its own often arcane rules, those costs can come as an unpleasant surprise.—
Kelly Phillips Erb,
Forbes.com,
16 May 2026
-
His rhetoric is unpleasant and extreme enough that he could not get confirmed to a university board in Florida.—
Helen Lewis,
The Atlantic,
14 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cacophonous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cacophonous. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
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