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.
a dissonant chorus of noises arose from the busy construction site
Recent Examples on the WebThat 30-year curve is part of the dissonant music of Roland’s life.Los Angeles Times, 12 Sep. 2022 The sweet-savory dish, a classic of Mexican haute cuisine, is a rite of passage for Mexico’s best chefs — a test of their skills in balancing dissonant flavors, now frequently chronicled on social media. Bill Esparza, Washington Post, 7 Sep. 2022 A few years ago the headquarters building was replaced by yet another dissonant high-rise.New York Times, 5 Aug. 2022 Photographs coming in and out of focus are musically translated into dissonant glissandos that arrive at triads.San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Aug. 2022 While In Utero was pretty uncompromising from start to finish, hearing this dissonant piece of noise just leaves the listener scarred once the album wraps up. Liza Lentini, SPIN, 20 July 2022 But in the process, El has been reduced to a dissonant mix of heroic self-sacrifice and homicidal rage. Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 6 July 2022 It’s also one of his signature hallucinogenic stews, which stirs in dissonant synthesizer noodlings, submissive/dominant relationships, and a decent amount of sleaze. David Fear, Rolling Stone, 21 June 2022 The 18th and 19th centuries were full of wars, too, but no one concluded from them that music should consist largely of dissonant harmonies, inhuman rhythms and charmless sound patterns. Barton Swaim, WSJ, 16 June 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Middle English dissonaunte, from Latin dissonant-, dissonans, present participle of dissonare to be discordant, from dis- + sonare to sound — more at sound entry 1