dissonant

adjective

ˈdi-sə-nənt How to pronounce dissonant (audio)
Definition of dissonantnext
as in shrill
marked by or producing a harsh combination of sounds a dissonant chorus of noises arose from the busy construction site

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of dissonant As things got crazier with our heroes and the Supes, things became more dissonant. — Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 12 June 2026 That question is at the crux of Irish filmmaker John Carney’s sixth sometimes magical, at times tonally dissonant solo directorial feature. — Randy Myers, Mercury News, 3 June 2026 But recent research found that members of the Tsimane’, a native Amazonian society in Bolivia, rate consonant and dissonant chords as equally pleasurable. — Literary Hub, 20 May 2026 The crowd sings the chorus in dissonant harmony. — Christopher Buchanan, Los Angeles Times, 18 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for dissonant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dissonant
  1. shrill
  2. noisy
  3. cacophonous
  4. unpleasant
  5. discordant
  6. metallic
  7. unmusical
  8. inharmonious
Adjective
  • That trademark indecision of summer takes root in her words and spreads through the music until her vocals diverge in the chorus, peeling like a clementine’s skin as one shrill line scales upward and the other remains monotone.
    — Hattie Lindert, Pitchfork, 21 July 2026
  • 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
Definition of shrill
Adjective
  • As work proceeds, plumes of sand have clouded waters near endangered coral and conchs while noisy excavators drown out waves along the popular beach next to Port Everglades.
    — Jenny Staletovich, Miami Herald, 30 July 2026
  • Sitting next to Martin Scorsese and the designer Marc Jacobs on the album cover is the group’s multi-instrumentalist John Cale, rock’s god of noisy, dignified experimentation.
    — Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 30 July 2026
Definition of noisy
Adjective
  • Despite its simple premise, Raimi’s eccentric, expressive filmmaking style, combined with the film’s unyielding, cacophonous splatter horror, made The Evil Dead instantly notorious.
    — Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 10 July 2026
  • In its cacophonous surroundings, the White House stood serene.
    — Mark Puleo, New York Times, 11 June 2026
Definition of cacophonous
Adjective
  • Combined with massaging seats, powerful climate control and extensive sound insulation, the technology turns an unpleasant commute into something approaching a sensory deprivation chamber.
    — Karl Brauer, Forbes.com, 28 July 2026
  • Chief on consumers' minds is cyclosporiasis, an unpleasant intestinal illness caused by the parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis, which has recently dominated headlines amid a tidal wave of cases.
    — Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 28 July 2026
Definition of unpleasant
Adjective
  • Above all, the overwrought thirty-two-dollar packet of luxury strikes a discordant note in a restaurant that seems, in every other way, to have no need for such clunky signifiers.
    — Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 26 July 2026
  • In their third and final decade as one of America’s greatest bands, Sonic Youth had all but given up on pushing their discordant art rock into the mainstream.
    — Al Shipley, SPIN, 29 June 2026
Definition of discordant
Adjective
  • One of the most devastating explosions ever on the planet—the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima—created a metallic material that was never seen before in a lab or nature.
    — Mary Randolph, Scientific American, 29 July 2026
  • Your metallic belts or rhinestone bags from the early 2000s might be worth a second chance in the sunlight.
    — Caroline Lubinsky, Martha Stewart, 28 July 2026
Definition of metallic
Adjective
  • Those songs remind Omara of real people and real events, political interludes whose senselessness and brutality have left unmusical lacunae in her life.
    — Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 18 Dec. 2023
  • His parents were unmusical Russian-Jewish immigrants who ran various businesses with mixed success.
    — The Economist, The Economist, 3 Oct. 2019
Definition of unmusical
Adjective
  • We are made loving, good, and pure – entirely free from any inharmonious tendency.
    — Margaret Rogers, Christian Science Monitor, 15 Apr. 2026
  • 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
Definition of inharmonious

Browse Nearby Words

dissonances
dissonant
dissuade
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Cite this Entry

“Dissonant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dissonant. Accessed 1 Aug. 2026.

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