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).
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 WebThe record ventures with an innate intelligence between mild, soulful disco grooves and discordant techno samples. Carrie Battan, The New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2022 The pockets of discordant laws across the continent leave the landscape chaotic. Robinson Sibe, Forbes, 2 Aug. 2022 As war rages, streets bearing names of famous Russians strike a discordant note for Ukraine. Scott Sandell, Los Angeles Times, 18 July 2022 Jonas Wikstrand’s original score does a nice job underpinning the story’s tonal mix of criminal intrigue, mystery, discordant relationships and hidden sentimental loyalties. Dennis Harvey, Variety, 8 July 2022 Writing does not force coherence onto a discordant narrative. Ursula Lindsey, The New York Review of Books, 6 July 2022 In earlier seasons, this tension felt less discordant. Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 6 July 2022 That alone is cause for celebration in these discordant times. Kurt Streeter, New York Times, 25 June 2022 That’s made all the worse by a system that censors discordant views and leaves room only for fawning approval. Christian Shepherd, Washington Post, 24 June 2022 See More