dissonant

[dis-uh-nuhnt]

adjective

1. disagreeing or harsh in sound; discordant.

2. out of harmony; incongruous; at variance.

   Synonyms: inconsistent, incongruent, incompatible

3. Music.,  characterized by dissonance.

dissonant

/ ˈdɪsənənt /

adjective

1. discordant; cacophonous

2. incongruous or discrepant

3. music characterized by dissonance

Other Word Forms

• dissonantly adverb
• undissonant adjective
• undissonantly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of dissonant¹

1400–50; late Middle English dissonaunte (< Anglo-French ) < Latin dissonant- (stem of dissonāns, present participle of dissonāre to sound harsh), equivalent to disson- (derivative of dissonus discordant; dis- ¹, sound ¹ ) + -ant- -ant

Word History and Origins

Origin of dissonant¹

C15: from Latin dissonāre to be discordant, from _dis- ¹ + sonāre to sound

Example Sentences

No matter which side of the increasingly dissonant political divide we sit on, rage emanates from either end.

From Salon

Experts say that the merger strikes a dissonant chord from a branding perspective too.

From BBC

We sent a dissonant chorus of our own to the Whitney Museum of American Art: three critics, each writing separately, on the highs and lows of the exhibition everyone will have an opinion about.

From New York Times

More recently, scholars have tried to find psychological explanations, but these 'integer ratios' are still credited with making a chord sound beautiful, and deviation from them is thought to make music 'dissonant', unpleasant sounding.

From Science Daily

The dissonant stacked intervals emanating from the orchestra pit highlights Louise Little — Malcolm’s mother — while she frets, waiting for her husband to come home.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• differing www.thesaurus.com
• discordant 
• incongruous 

When To Use

What does dissonant mean?

Dissonant is an adjective used to describe noise that’s harsh and inharmonious.It’s also used to describe things that are in stark disagreement or that lack consistency.In both cases, a close synonym is discordant. The state of being dissonant is dissonance.In the context of music, dissonant is used to describe a combination of sounds thought to be inharmonious (often ones intentionally composed to be so). Such a combination (or a chord or interval that features such disharmony) is called dissonance.In psychology, the term cognitive dissonance refers to the unease a person feels when they have two or more contradictory or incompatible beliefs. Such thoughts can be described as dissonant.Example: Leaders in both factions of the party promised harmony, but so far there has been nothing but dissonant rhetoric.