1
as in shrill
marked by or producing a harsh combination of sounds
discordant tones coming from the poorly tuned instrument
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in noisy
making loud, confused, and usually unharmonious sounds
the discordant cries of gulls fighting over the fishing boat's castoffs
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in aggressive
feeling or displaying eagerness to fight
a troubled, discordant family that would benefit from professional counseling
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in conflicting
not being in agreement or harmony
his views on the proper role of diet in maintaining good health are certainly discordant with most contemporary opinions on the subject
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of discordant
What happened to me was a discordant event in my life.
—
Brittany Spanos, Rolling Stone, 31 Oct. 2025
Deliver Me from Nowhere focuses on Bruce Springsteen in the midst of a depressive episode, struggling to create something meaningful and finite, while suicidal ideation plays discordant sounds in his head.
—Richard Newby, HollywoodReporter, 29 Oct. 2025
Together the flavor is muddled, slightly discordant, but alone the Irish whiskey gets to sing, its apples and pears and slight malt and gentle touch a perfect foil to the zesty front palate of the lemon and the deep finish of the almonds.
—Jeremy Repanich, Robb Report, 25 Oct. 2025
However, an investigation by The Bee this week found that Flora, 42, brings a history to the role that may be discordant with a party concerned with family values and fiscal conservatism.
—Kate Wolffe, Sacbee.com, 11 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for discordant
Brittany Spanos, Rolling Stone, 31 Oct. 2025
Deliver Me from Nowhere focuses on Bruce Springsteen in the midst of a depressive episode, struggling to create something meaningful and finite, while suicidal ideation plays discordant sounds in his head.
—Richard Newby, HollywoodReporter, 29 Oct. 2025
Together the flavor is muddled, slightly discordant, but alone the Irish whiskey gets to sing, its apples and pears and slight malt and gentle touch a perfect foil to the zesty front palate of the lemon and the deep finish of the almonds.
—Jeremy Repanich, Robb Report, 25 Oct. 2025
However, an investigation by The Bee this week found that Flora, 42, brings a history to the role that may be discordant with a party concerned with family values and fiscal conservatism.
—Kate Wolffe, Sacbee.com, 11 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for discordant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for discordant
Adjective
-
And each dares to honor the humanity in characters often reduced to predators and prey by one faction, shrill social justice warriors and brave free thinkers by another.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
5 Mar. 2026
-
In turn, the tone has changed around Newcastle these past few days; less shrill, less edgy, less perilous.—
George Caulkin,
New York Times,
19 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Bauder admonished the crowd several times for being too noisy, and police removed a protester who yelled vulgar comments.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
12 Mar. 2026
-
Anthemic action was giving way to chill mantras, as if to regulate the ever noisier, ever more distracting world.—
Spencer Kornhaber,
The Atlantic,
11 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
While their offer was aggressive, the deal wasn’t done in a numbers vacuum.—
Andreas Wiseman,
Deadline,
9 Mar. 2026
-
Slater had been particularly aggressive against Big Tech companies during her tenure.—
Allie Canal,
NBC news,
9 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Meanwhile, different measurement methods have produced conflicting results throughout the years.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
5 Mar. 2026
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Trump has offered conflicting timelines on how long the Iran conflict will take to resolve.—
Miranda Jeyaretnam,
Time,
5 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
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
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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
Adjective
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Frontiers are already porous here, crossed by smuggling routes, refugee trails and militant hideouts.—
Mihir Sharma,
Twin Cities,
8 Mar. 2026
-
Among the most prominent Islamic militant groups are Boko Haram and its breakaway faction, known as Islamic State West Africa Province.—
Dyepkazah Shibayan,
Los Angeles Times,
7 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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For a while, cities across Kentucky were inconsistent, with some observing the time change and others not.—
Chris Sims,
Louisville Courier Journal,
7 Mar. 2026
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Progress to close the gender pay gap has been slow and inconsistent.—
Sophie Caldwell,
CNBC,
6 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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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
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For sixteen hours a week, Valentine hopes to share some melody in a place that, for some, can feel inharmonious.—
Washington Post,
Washington Post,
24 July 2021
Cite this Entry
“Discordant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/discordant. Accessed 13 Mar. 2026.
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