as in discord
a lack of agreement or harmony
the dissonance between what we are told and what we see with our own eyes
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Recent Examples of dissonance
The dissonance mirrors the film’s loopy approach to Grace.
—
Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 6 Nov. 2025
The dissonance between their bacchanalian ritual and Adelaida’s silent, solitary suffering is marked, and the disrespect for the dead further underlined when a gravedigger tersely shoos her away from the graveside, reminding her that the area is unsafe, especially at nightfall.
—Jessica Kiang, Variety, 31 Oct. 2025
It’s driven by dissonance, by collapse, by moments of rupture that force entirely new structures of being to emerge.
—Big Think, 29 Oct. 2025
This is a film that gets under your skin, with the director's sumptuous visuals providing a fascinating dissonance for the darkness within.
—Steven Thrash, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dissonance
Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 6 Nov. 2025
The dissonance between their bacchanalian ritual and Adelaida’s silent, solitary suffering is marked, and the disrespect for the dead further underlined when a gravedigger tersely shoos her away from the graveside, reminding her that the area is unsafe, especially at nightfall.
—Jessica Kiang, Variety, 31 Oct. 2025
It’s driven by dissonance, by collapse, by moments of rupture that force entirely new structures of being to emerge.
—Big Think, 29 Oct. 2025
This is a film that gets under your skin, with the director's sumptuous visuals providing a fascinating dissonance for the darkness within.
—Steven Thrash, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dissonance
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dissonance
Noun
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But when her latest husband, discord spirit Raksh, provokes the council’s wrath, Amina must clean up his blunder, contend with Marjana’s demands for the truth…and figure out who on her crew is plotting a mutiny.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
2 Jan. 2026
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Turning Point spokesperson Andrew Kolvet framed the discord as a healthy debate about the future of the movement, an uncomfortable but necessary process of finding consensus.—
Jonathan J. Cooper,
Fortune,
22 Dec. 2025
Noun
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This airflow spins the rotator through surface friction alone.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
12 Jan. 2026
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The sneakers have a stretchy mesh upper material that provides airflow during activity and minimizes friction, according to the brand.—
Clara McMahon,
PEOPLE,
12 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Part of that discordance might be the fact that as a genre, rock has historically been difficult to define.—
Hannah Dailey,
Billboard,
19 Nov. 2025
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The sport of off-roading suffers from a fundamental discordance: The desire to get out into nature and the irreparable harm inherent in the process of off-roading.—
Tim Stevens,
ArsTechnica,
25 July 2025
Noun
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After more than a century of plunder and strife, under tyrants as diverse as King Leopold II of Belgium and Mobutu Sese Seko, the present-day DRC still occupies the dark heart of the continent in much of the world’s imagination.—
Holden Frith,
TheWeek,
9 Jan. 2026
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Located in the Horn of Africa, Somalia is one of the world’s poorest nations and has been beset by chronic strife and insecurity exacerbated by multiple natural disasters, including severe droughts, for decades.—
Omar Faruk,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Authorities said the display was likely the result of a conflict between criminal groups operating in the area.—
Emma Bussey,
FOXNews.com,
12 Jan. 2026
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Calvo said the city’s contract with consulting firm NCGA LLC raises potential conflict-of-interest concerns.—
Verónica Egui Brito,
Miami Herald,
12 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The discordancy is so intriguing — like learning that Katharine Graham went to nude encounter sessions at Esalen, or Alan Greenspan was once in a Lynyrd Skynyrd cover band.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
17 Nov. 2021
Noun
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American forces built about a dozen bases of varying size in Greenland during and after the war.—
Stephen J. Beard,
USA Today,
15 Jan. 2026
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And analysts say that countries, including smaller developing markets, may be more wary of irking China, even to protect the growth of their own manufacturing sectors – especially when contending with a US trade war.—
Simone McCarthy,
CNN Money,
15 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The right’s schisms were on full display during AmericaFest, Turning Point USA’s annual conference, which took place in Phoenix this past weekend.—
David Remnick,
New Yorker,
22 Dec. 2025
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But in the late 1970s and early 1980s, a painful schism emerged between them, one that led them to stop speaking to one another for an extended period of time.—
Scott Huver,
PEOPLE,
12 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Dissonance.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dissonance. Accessed 16 Jan. 2026.
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