as in shrill
marked by or producing a harsh combination of sounds
the cacophonous chaos on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange
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Recent Examples of cacophonous
This time, the commission’s bargaining position was undercut from the start by a cacophonous chorus, with key member states preemptively voicing their opposition to retaliation.
—
Matthias Matthijs, Foreign Affairs, 12 Dec. 2025
By making the dialogue more cacophonous as the pressure mounts, Ottosson replicates the feelings of the characters, who have trained hundreds of times for various scenarios — but are now experiencing something that goes beyond their typical exercises.
—Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 26 Nov. 2025
Nestled among the tourist-heavy streets of Soho in the heart of London — far from the bright city lights and cacophonous traffic — is a man in a dark, quiet room.
—Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 12 Nov. 2025
Bowling at run-hungry batters on largely unforgiving pitches in vast, cacophonous stadiums with huge outfields in front of a partisan and at times baying crowd — plenty of English bowlers have found bowling in Australia akin to a Sisyphean task.
—James Wallace, New York Times, 22 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cacophonous
Matthias Matthijs, Foreign Affairs, 12 Dec. 2025
By making the dialogue more cacophonous as the pressure mounts, Ottosson replicates the feelings of the characters, who have trained hundreds of times for various scenarios — but are now experiencing something that goes beyond their typical exercises.
—Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 26 Nov. 2025
Nestled among the tourist-heavy streets of Soho in the heart of London — far from the bright city lights and cacophonous traffic — is a man in a dark, quiet room.
—Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 12 Nov. 2025
Bowling at run-hungry batters on largely unforgiving pitches in vast, cacophonous stadiums with huge outfields in front of a partisan and at times baying crowd — plenty of English bowlers have found bowling in Australia akin to a Sisyphean task.
—James Wallace, New York Times, 22 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cacophonous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cacophonous
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 Brooklyn psych-folk artist’s 2025 debut, newly reissued by AD 93, is dissonant, ghostly, and otherworldly, summoning complex emotions with sparse tools.—
Vrinda Jagota,
Pitchfork,
19 Mar. 2026
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The contrast of the narrative established by the plates is comparable to jazz music, with its rhythm and repetition broken up by unexpected and sometimes dissonant improvisations, the Art Institute said.—
Adam Harrington,
CBS News,
3 Feb. 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
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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
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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
Cite this Entry
“Cacophonous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cacophonous. Accessed 4 Apr. 2026.
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