dissonance means A harsh, discordant combination of sounds. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 74 out of 100.
dissonance is pronounced /ˈdɪsənəns/.
Why “dissonance” is a great word
A harsh, discordant combination of sounds, or more broadly, a state of disagreement or conflict. From the Latin dissonantia, from dissonare ("to sound differently, be out of harmony"), from dis- ("apart") + sonare ("to sound"). First attested in English 1565–75. Unlike "cacophony," which implies a chaotic and unintentional racket, or "harmony," its direct, pleasing opposite, dissonance is often a structured and intentional tension. It is the unresolved chord that lingers in a concert hall, the cold silence between two people who have said too much, and the stark clash between a cherished belief and an undeniable fact. It is the fundamental texture of any truth that contains more than one note.
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French dissonance, from Latin dissonantia; by surface analysis, dis- + son- + -ance.
noun
- A harsh, discordant combination of sounds.
- Conflicting notes that are not overtones of the note or chord sounding.
- A state of disagreement or conflict.“Cognitive dissonance exists when a person possesses two cognitions, one of which is contradictory to the other”
- An instance of that state.“In this polyphony of images in the unconscious which is beyond and outside historical time, there are complex harmonies but no dissonances: the images do not clash, but that, of course, is an aesthetic judgment and not a scientific one.”
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