discordant

adjective

dis·​cor·​dant di-ˈskȯr-dᵊnt 

1

a

: being at variance : disagreeing

discordant opinions

b

: quarrelsome

a discordant family

2

music : relating to a discord (see discord entry 1 sense 2)

a discordant tone

discordantly adverb

Did you know?

Discord, a word more common in earlier centuries than today, means basically "conflict", so discordant often means "conflicting". The opinions of Supreme Court justices are frequently discordant; justices who disagree with the Court's decision usually write a dissenting opinion. Discordant is often used with a somewhat musical meaning, suggesting that a single wrong note or harmony has been heard in the middle of a performance—even though musical words such as chord actually come from a different Latin word, meaning "cord" or "string" (a reference to the strings of ancient instruments such as the lyre).

Synonyms

• cacophonous
• dissonant
• inharmonious
• unmelodious
• unmusical
• unvocal

Examples of discordant in a Sentence

She has the difficult task of bringing together a number of discordant elements.

discordant tones coming from the poorly tuned instrument

Recent Examples on the Web

The discordant economic views among experts and typical Americans reflects several factors. —Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 18 Oct. 2024

Batiste told IndieWire that the sharp, sometimes discordant, sometimes howling cues could still work hand-in-hand with the film’s sound design and editing rhythm because the point was never to have every element in the film line up neatly. —Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 13 Oct. 2024

The sometimes discordant but always rhythmic and appropriately pulsing soundtrack, by Evgueni and Sacha Galperine, casts a strong spell, along with Laurent Tangy’s sensual cinematography. —Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Sep. 2024

The phrase is used to describe when a creative work has gone too far in introducing new ideas that are discordant with its initial premise. —Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 16 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

see discord entry 2

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

discordant

adjective

dis·​cord·​ant

dis-ˈkȯrd-ᵊnt

1

a

: not being in agreement

discordant opinions

b

: quarrelsome

a discordant family

2

: relating to or producing a discord

discordant music

discordantly adverb

Medical Definition

discordant

adjective

dis·​cor·​dant dis-ˈkȯrd-ᵊnt 

of twins

: dissimilar with respect to one or more particular characters compare concordant

discordance

-ᵊn(t)s 

noun