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The root of "dissonant" is the Latin verb sonare. Can you guess what "sonare" means? Here's a hint: some related derivatives are "sonata," "supersonic," and "resonance." Does it sound to you as if "sonare" has something to do with sound? If so, you're right. In fact, sonare means "to sound, is related to the Latin noun sonus (meaning "sound"), and is an ancestor of the English word sound. "Dissonant" includes the negative prefix dis-. What is "dissonant," therefore, sounds inharmonic, conflicting, or clashing.
Synonyms
Examples of dissonant in a Sentence
a dissonant chorus of noises arose from the busy construction site
Recent Examples on the Web
Just as the concert’s success depends on most musicians playing correctly despite a few dissonant notes, a blockchain’s integrity relies on honest nodes reaching consensus even when some nodes fail or act maliciously.
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Gary Weinstein, Forbes, 22 Nov. 2024
The storytelling is entertainingly confident but tonally dissonant, though Baker stirs a host of strong performances for his disparate characters, especially Mikey Madison as the sassy Cinderella of this story and Yura Borisov as an endearing henchman.
—Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 8 Nov. 2024
The dissonant hoover synths seethe like Bernard Herrmann strings — echoing the lyrics’ references to Hitchcock’s Psycho, Vertigo, and Rear Window.
—Kristen S. Hé, Vulture, 25 Oct. 2024
It was improvised and dissonant and the type of weird that gave everyone goosebumps.
—Angelique Jackson, Variety, 22 Oct. 2024
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Gary Weinstein, Forbes, 22 Nov. 2024
The storytelling is entertainingly confident but tonally dissonant, though Baker stirs a host of strong performances for his disparate characters, especially Mikey Madison as the sassy Cinderella of this story and Yura Borisov as an endearing henchman.
—Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 8 Nov. 2024
The dissonant hoover synths seethe like Bernard Herrmann strings — echoing the lyrics’ references to Hitchcock’s Psycho, Vertigo, and Rear Window.
—Kristen S. Hé, Vulture, 25 Oct. 2024
It was improvised and dissonant and the type of weird that gave everyone goosebumps.
—Angelique Jackson, Variety, 22 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for dissonant
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Cite this Entry
“Dissonant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dissonant. Accessed 17 Dec. 2024.
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