as in discords
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 dissonances
Through all these inconsistencies, absences, dissonances, and contradictions, an overarching coherence emerges.
—
Richard Brody, New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2025
From Zehetmair’s searching dissonances, the SPCO moved into Brahms’ Double Concerto, performed by concertmaster Steven Copes and principal cello Julie Albers.
—Sheila Regan, Twin Cities, 13 Sep. 2025
Although the relocation of a very Nordic communitarian milieu to a British setting creates its own cultural dissonances, the end result is a nifty ethical puzzle about balancing the needs of individuals versus those of the community.
—Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 7 Sep. 2025
Richard Brody, New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2025
From Zehetmair’s searching dissonances, the SPCO moved into Brahms’ Double Concerto, performed by concertmaster Steven Copes and principal cello Julie Albers.
—Sheila Regan, Twin Cities, 13 Sep. 2025
Although the relocation of a very Nordic communitarian milieu to a British setting creates its own cultural dissonances, the end result is a nifty ethical puzzle about balancing the needs of individuals versus those of the community.
—Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 7 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dissonances
Noun
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Your dedicated Slack channels, private discords and endless Reddit threads.—
April Uchitel,
Flow Space,
6 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Trade frictions, geopolitical unease and safety concerns have also contributed to the drop in demand for travel stateside, travel experts told CNBC.—
Sarah Whitten,
CNBC,
4 Mar. 2026
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Last year, the country’s reliance on exports to other countries drove China’s trade surplus to a record high, bringing frictions with nations that accuse China of flooding markets.—
Simone McCarthy,
CNN Money,
3 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The president noted that past military conflicts have dogged his predecessors, mentioning former President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan and Jimmy Carter’s handling of the Iran hostage crisis.—
Francesca Chambers,
USA Today,
10 Mar. 2026
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Geopolitical conflicts and economic tensions this year have sparked a new wave of interest in gold as an investment.—
Liz Knueven,
CNBC,
10 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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There are still some trustbusters in the administration, especially at the FTC, which has avoided being pulled into messy lobbyist fights and White House schisms.—
Liz Hoffman,
semafor.com,
14 Feb. 2026
Noun
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But the military outcome and the political outcome are almost never the same thing, and the gap between them is where wars fail.—
Farah N. Jan,
The Conversation,
10 Mar. 2026
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Linda Bilmes, a Harvard expert on the cost of wars, told me that the United States used up more than 20% of its entire worldwide stockpile of THAAD interceptors last year defending Israel during the 12-day war with Iran.—
Nicholas D. Kristof,
Mercury News,
10 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Dissonances.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dissonances. Accessed 14 Mar. 2026.
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