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
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ pristine, industrial synth-forward score adds a fittingly dissonant soundscape with melodies that blossom once the pair’s relationship takes shape.
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Courtney Howard, Variety, 13 Feb. 2025
His first two albums, the glitter-rave of Osama Season and the starkly dissonant Flex Musix, were entirely solo except for the beatmakers.
—Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 12 Feb. 2025
The visual scheme is deliberately dissonant, with the bold primary colors of the costumes and the set dressing clashing against drab, gray, real-life backgrounds.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 7 Feb. 2025
These dissonant elements have been in the DNA of Short n’ Sweet from the start.
—Abby Aguirre, Vogue, 11 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dissonant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dissonant
Adjective
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As such, The Studio is shrill and talky, its chaotic scenes sparked by random performers like Charlize Theron, Zac Efron, Olivia Wilde and Sarah Polley, all of whom want something from Remick.—
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The shrill, metallic banging noises of a jack hammer echoed around the White House on Monday as crews started removing the large, yellow Black Lives Matter mural down the street from the president's home.—
Adjective
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Like any good house party, as many high schoolers can attest, the scene was a little chaotic, noisy and free flowing, in more ways than one.—
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Young planets orbit young stars, and young stars tend to be very noisy, which makes extracting the signals of their young planets all the more difficult.—
Adjective
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The result is a cacophonous temper tantrum, a vacuous and perfidious advertisement for military recruitment.—
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Of the collection, Sundy Praia is the most luxurious, with 15 tented villas set where the cacophonous jungle meets the tawny coast.—
Adjective
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As horrible, unpleasant, miserable this work was, people had the most wonderful spirit.—
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Euphemisms are designed to obfuscate unpleasant truths.—
Adjective
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Today, on Trump’s Liberation Day, consumer-smacking tariffs—described by some as the biggest tax hike in global history—serve as a reminder of these discordant notes.—
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You’re Cordially Invited might have been better off ditching the rom of it all entirely, but Stoller is good enough at this that even if the rest of his movie consists of two slightly discordant halves, both are pretty solid.—
Adjective
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Available in metallic champagne, black, and brown, the Soul Tia Slip-On is built on a slick, white sole that’s grooved for extra flexibility, with a round toe box and 1.75-inch heel.—
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Scientists also think that the atmosphere is populated with light-absorbing metallic gases such as sodium and potassium that help shroud the planet in darkness.—
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.—
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His parents were unmusical Russian-Jewish immigrants who ran various businesses with mixed success.—
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.—
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For sixteen hours a week, Valentine hopes to share some melody in a place that, for some, can feel inharmonious.—
Cite this Entry
“Dissonant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dissonant. Accessed 15 Apr. 2025.
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