as in shrill
marked by or producing a harsh combination of sounds
a dissonant chorus of noises arose from the busy construction site
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Recent Examples of dissonant
The cast fragmented, with the Byers family and El trying to start over in California while Hopper languished in a tonally dissonant Soviet gulag, as though the Duffers didn’t realize that what people loved most about Stranger Things was its grounding in Hawkins.
—
Judy Berman, Time, 26 Dec. 2025
But Roofman, which Cianfrance also co-wrote, was clearly intended to be lighter fare and instead ends up in this dissonant in-between space tonally.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 10 Oct. 2025
Jonny Greenwood’s score moves between soaring strings and dissonant piano keys, alternately soothing and anxious; a few pieces composed by Jon Brion add an ambient layer of wistfulness.
—Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 26 Sep. 2025
Jonny Greenwood’s score moves between soaring strings and dissonant piano keys, alternately soothing and anxious; a few pieces composed by Jon Brion add an ambient layer of wistfulness.
—Katie Walsh, Boston Herald, 25 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dissonant
Judy Berman, Time, 26 Dec. 2025
But Roofman, which Cianfrance also co-wrote, was clearly intended to be lighter fare and instead ends up in this dissonant in-between space tonally.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 10 Oct. 2025
Jonny Greenwood’s score moves between soaring strings and dissonant piano keys, alternately soothing and anxious; a few pieces composed by Jon Brion add an ambient layer of wistfulness.
—Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 26 Sep. 2025
Jonny Greenwood’s score moves between soaring strings and dissonant piano keys, alternately soothing and anxious; a few pieces composed by Jon Brion add an ambient layer of wistfulness.
—Katie Walsh, Boston Herald, 25 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dissonant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dissonant
Adjective
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The chaos is still an acceptable price to pay for Birney’s expertly offputting performance, a shrill mania that gets increasingly comic over time.—
Alison Herman,
Variety,
26 Mar. 2026
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Some cymbal hits came across as slightly shrill thanks to the high-mid emphasis.—
Christian de Looper,
PC Magazine,
23 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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The experience of Gando will also enrich a timber day-care center now going up on a noisy street in Munich.—
Justin Davidson,
Curbed,
1 Apr. 2026
-
Greg Bovino, Border Patrol’s former commander at large, with the big coat that definitely does not give off a Nazi vibe, got one of the noisiest, rock-star receptions at CPAC when he was brought on stage by podcaster Benny Johnson.—
Rob Crilly,
The Washington Examiner,
30 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Miami Music Week is at its zenith this weekend, its cacophonous diversions and decibels aimed at the spring break crowd and other ears that haven’t been around for very long, highlighted by the DJ bonfire known as Ultra Music Festival.—
Ben Crandell,
Sun Sentinel,
25 Mar. 2026
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Chiang Mai's postcard sights, including the gilded temples in the Old Town and the cacophonous Warorot Market, require a 15-minute taxi ride.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
17 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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That said, whole-virus vaccines can cause more unpleasant side effects, and in rare cases, weakened live pathogens can redevelop infectious capability.—
Meghan Bartels,
Scientific American,
27 Mar. 2026
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Like, what would make this already unpleasant environment even spicier?—
Mikey O'Connell,
HollywoodReporter,
27 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Together the flavor is muddled, slightly discordant, but alone the Irish whiskey gets to sing, its apples and pears and slight malt and gentle touch a perfect foil to the zesty front palate of the lemon and the deep finish of the almonds.—
Jeremy Repanich,
Robb Report,
14 Mar. 2026
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Some events grapple with the two-hundred-and-fiftieth birthday of our discordant country.—
Inkoo Kang,
New Yorker,
27 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The other form, metallic palladium (Pd⁰), takes over afterward, hydrogenating the resulting fragments into stable compounds like cyclohexanol and cyclohexane.—
Rupendra Brahambhatt,
Interesting Engineering,
29 Mar. 2026
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Something else that supports the hypothesis that recent meteors have been larger than usual is the prevalence of sonic booms — loud, explosive sounds caused by shockwaves when meteoroids, small rocky or metallic bodies from space, penetrate deeper into the Earth's atmosphere than usual.—
Jamie Carter,
Space.com,
27 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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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
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His parents were unmusical Russian-Jewish immigrants who ran various businesses with mixed success.—
The Economist,
The Economist,
3 Oct. 2019
Adjective
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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
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For sixteen hours a week, Valentine hopes to share some melody in a place that, for some, can feel inharmonious.—
Washington Post,
Washington Post,
24 July 2021
Cite this Entry
“Dissonant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dissonant. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.
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