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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of dissonance
Jagged sheets of tension and dissonance from Reichard and Masri get swept up in the mellow simplicity of her bending chords, and every twinge and twang brings a rush of feeling.
—
H.d. Angel, Pitchfork, 4 Mar. 2026
Or in the dancer Mira Nadon, whose body contains a natural shadow, revealing a tension between musical dissonance and the relentlessly demanding and athletic steps she is pushed to perform.
—Jennifer Homans, New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2026
There’s an emotional dissonance to watching Thomas Jay Ryan, as Kramer, deliver that message.
—Talya Zax, The Atlantic, 21 Feb. 2026
That is why the booing of Israeli — and in some moments American — athletes during the opening ceremony landed with such dissonance.
—Rabbi Bruce D. Forman, Sun Sentinel, 10 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dissonance
H.d. Angel, Pitchfork, 4 Mar. 2026
Or in the dancer Mira Nadon, whose body contains a natural shadow, revealing a tension between musical dissonance and the relentlessly demanding and athletic steps she is pushed to perform.
—Jennifer Homans, New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2026
There’s an emotional dissonance to watching Thomas Jay Ryan, as Kramer, deliver that message.
—Talya Zax, The Atlantic, 21 Feb. 2026
That is why the booing of Israeli — and in some moments American — athletes during the opening ceremony landed with such dissonance.
—Rabbi Bruce D. Forman, Sun Sentinel, 10 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dissonance
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dissonance
Noun
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Officials say a goal of the attacks is to undermine support for Ukraine, spread fear and discord in European societies and drain investigative resources.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
12 Mar. 2026
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Everything around him pounding in its pulse, the song of the world thronging in all its discord.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
9 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The question most are wrestling with right now is, how long will the lag period — and friction — between these two cycles last?—
Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson,
semafor.com,
13 Mar. 2026
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The actors eventually work well together, but there is a lingering sense of friction between Marky and the golden boy.—
Joe Reid,
Vulture,
13 Mar. 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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Those moves thrust the Dodgers’ spending into the spotlight again, particularly with labor strife looming for the league.—
Fabian Ardaya,
New York Times,
13 Mar. 2026
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Prosecutors argued during the six-week trial that Dale Warner killed his wife amid marital strife and took deliberate steps to hide her body and mislead investigators.—
Corey J. Murray,
USA Today,
12 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The longer the conflict goes, the more pronounced questions about the midterms will become.—
Rebecca Johnson,
Chicago Tribune,
17 Mar. 2026
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Romantasy books blend the best of both the fantasy and romance genres, delivering high-stakes political conflicts, endless action and plot twists, and, of course, swoon-worthy love.—
De Elizabeth,
Glamour,
17 Mar. 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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Both massive aircraft can act as the president’s emergency operations hub in times of national security threats, such as a nuclear war.—
Terry Castleman,
Los Angeles Times,
12 Mar. 2026
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When the war in Gaza erupted, the Houthis fired ballistic missiles and drones at Israel, in solidarity with the Palestinians, and imposed their chokehold on Red Sea shipping lanes.—
Sudarsan Raghavan,
New Yorker,
12 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Ferrante’s portrait of these schisms is exquisite, detailing all the jealousies and insecurities that can thrive in a friendship between two bright ambitious women.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 Mar. 2026
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The Defense Department’s reliance on Anthropic’s AI came as a shocking realization that ultimately led to their dramatic schism, according to a top Pentagon official.—
Jason Ma,
Fortune,
7 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Dissonance.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dissonance. Accessed 18 Mar. 2026.
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