cacophony means A mix of discordant sounds; dissonance. It carries an Arena rating of 1916, earned across 27 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, cacophony ranks #148 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #549 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words, #1,606 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #1,995 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say.
cacophony is pronounced /kəˈkɒfəni/.
Why “cacophony” is a great word
A harsh, discordant mixture of sounds. From the Greek kakophōnia, from kakos ("bad") + phōnē ("sound"). First attested in English in the 1650s, probably via French cacophonie. Unlike euphony, which denotes a pleasing, melodious quality, or harmony, which implies a concordant agreement, cacophony is the deliberate or desperate clashing of sonic worlds. It is the metallic shriek of a subway train rounding a bend, the overlapping shouts of a traders’ pit, and the percussive chaos of a kitchen dropped from a great height—a brutal reminder that not all that is loud is alive, but all that is alive must sometimes scream.
Etymology
From French cacophonie, from Ancient Greek κακοφωνία (kakophōnía), from κακός (kakós, “bad”) + φωνή (phōnḗ, “sound”), equivalent to caco- + -phony.
noun
- A mix of discordant sounds; dissonance.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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