Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Definition: Dissonant |
DissonantAdjective1. Not musical in nature; "the unmusical cry of the bluejay". 2. (music) characterized by musical dissonance; harmonically unresolved. 3. Lacking in harmony. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "dissonant" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1671. (references) |
Etymology: Dissonant \Dis"so*nant\, adjective. [Latin expression dissonans, -antis, present participle of dissonare to disagree in sound, be discordant; dis- sonare to sound: compare to the French expression dissonant. See Sonant.]. (references) |
Synonyms: DissonantSynonyms: discordant (adj), disharmonious (adj), inharmonic (adj), nonmusical (adj), unmusical (adj), unresolved (adj). (additional references) |
| Antonym: musical (adj). (additional references) |
Crosswords: Dissonant |
| English words defined with "dissonant": dissonate ♦ Inharmonical, Interjangle ♦ noise ♦ resolution. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "dissonant": Affective Symptoms. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "dissonant": Interjangle. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Dissonant" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses. French (discordant, dissonant), German (dissonant, dissonantly). |
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
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Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Play | Caption |
| An angular and dissonant keyboard melody with a conga drum accompaniment. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Author | Quotation |
Alfred Jarry | It is conventional to call ''monster'' any blending of dissonant elements. I call ''monster'' every original inexhaustible beauty. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| "Dissonant" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 97.73% of the time. "Dissonant" is used about 44 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 97.73% | 43 | 52,181 |
| Noun (singular) | 2.27% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 44 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expression using "dissonant": be dissonant. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "dissonant": dissonant-type. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
dissonant | 3 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "dissonant"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | zhangëllues (discordant), joharmonik (inharmonious), i vrazhdë (abrupt, austere, bad tempered, boeotian, boorish, brutal, brutish, churlish, clownish, coarse, crude, discordant, earthy, fretful, grave, gross, hard, hard-fisted, harsh, heavy-handed, ill natured, low-bred, morose, murky, robustious, rough, rough spoken, rude, scurrilous, severe, stern, sullen, surly, truculent, uncivil, unfinished, unhandsome, unmannerly), i papajtueshëm (discordant, divergent, implacable, incompatible, incongruous, inconsistent, inconsonant, intransigent, irreconcilable, relentless, unappeasable), i kundërt (adverse, antagonistic, backward, contrariety, contrary, converse, counter, cross, divergent, negative, opposed, opposite, polar, reverse). (various references) | |
Arabic | متنافر (conflicting, discordant, disharmonious, grotesque, incoherent, incompatible, incongruous, inconsistent, inharmonious, jarring), ناشز (discordant, false, prominent, protruding), نشاز (discord, dissonance), غير متناغم (out of tune, tuneless). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | неблагозвучен (ragged), дисонантен. (various references) | |
Czech | disonantní, disharmonický (disharmonious, jarring), nelibozvuèný (tuneless). (various references) | |
Farsi | ناموزون (Atonal, Discordant), ناهنجار (Abnormal, Backhand, Gruff, Inelegant, Lumpy, Maladroit, Malformed, Nefarious, Raucous, Rough, Surly, Timber, Uncouth, Unkempt), ناجور (Away, Cockeyed, Disparate, Dissimilar, Heterogeneous, Inapplicable, Inappropriate, Inconsistent, Incorrect, Inept, Misfit, Piebald, Sorry, Uneven), بداهنگ . (various references) | |
Finnish | epäsointuinen (discordant). (various references) | |
French | dissonant (discordant), discordant (discordant). (various references) | |
German | dissonant (dissonantly), abweichend (aberrantly, aberrational, deviant, deviating, differently, differing, dissonantly, divergent, divergently, variant). (various references) | |
Greek | παράφωνοσ (absonant, discordant). (various references) | |
Hebrew | צורם (harsh, jarring, rasping), צרירי. (various references) | |
Hungarian | eltérõ (declinatory, different, discrepant, disharmonious, disparate, distinct, excursive, variant). (various references) | |
Indonesian | disonan, tidak cocok (discreprant, inapt), buruk (bad, corrupt, decayed, foul, nasty, old, putrid, ugly, worn out). (various references) | |
Italian | dissonante (jarring). (various references) | |
Manx | neuving (unharmonious). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | issonantday.(various references) | |
Portuguese | divergente (devious, divergent), dissonante (discordant, grating, inconsonant, noteless, rough, tuneless, unmusical). (various references) | |
Romanian | distonant (clashing, discordant, incongruous), disonant (discordant), discordant (ajar, clashing, conflicting, discordant, grating, inharmonic, jarring, untuneful), nepotrivit (awkward, bad, discordant, ill-matched, ill-sorted, improper, inadequate, inapposite, inappropriate, inapt, incapable, incongruous, inconsistent, incorrect, ineligible, inept, inexpedient, infelicitous, inopportune, insufficient, intrusive, irrelevant, malapropos, misbecoming, off color, off colour, out of character, out of date, out of point, timeless, unapt, unbecoming, uncalled for, uncomely, undue, unequal, unfit, unmeet, unseasonable, untimely, unwarranted), în dezacord cu (at variance with, opposed to). (various references) | |
Russian | неблагозвучный (discordant). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | disonantan (discordant, jazz). (various references) | |
Spanish | disonante (discordant, incongruous). (various references) | |
Swedish | disharmonisk (discordant, disharmonious, jarring, tuneless), missljudande. (various references) | |
Turkish | uyumsuz (discordant, disharmonious, ill-assorted, ill-matched, inadaptable, incompatible, incongruous, inconsonant, inharmonious, jarring, maladjusted, out of tune, tuneless, unadaptable, unadapted, unharmonious, unmusical, untuned), akortsuz (off-key, out of tune, untuned), ahenksiz (atonal, discordant, disharmonious, inconsonant, inharmonious, jazz, out of tune, tuneless, unharmonious, unmelodious, unmusical, untuned). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | суперечливий (antinomic, antinomical, conflicting, contradictious, contradictory, discrepant, irreconcilable, repugnant, self-contradictory, warring), неблагозвучний (disharmonious). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | không ho âm không ho hợp, bất ho ; mâu thuẫn nhau. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "dissonant": dissonantly. (additional references) | |
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"Dissonant" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: disonant, dissecans, dissonanc, dissonat, disssonant, dossonant, Tisserant. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "dissonant" (pronounced di"sununt) |
| 6 | -s u n u n t | consonant. |
| 5 | -u n u n t | abstinent, contaminant, continent, covenant, immanent, imminent, impertinent, determinant, dominant, eminent, incontinent, permanent, pertinent, predominant, preeminent, prominent, recombinant, resonant, ruminant, semipermanent, subcontinent. |
| 4 | -n u n t | complainant, component, exponent, indignant, lieutenant, malignant, opponent, pennant, pregnant, proponent, remnant, repugnant, stagnant, tenant. |
| 3 | -u n t | agent, aggrandizement, agreement, ailment, alignment, allotment, amazement, ambient, ambivalent, amendment, amusement, ancient, announcement, annulment, antecedent, antidepressant, antigovernment, antioxidant, apartment, apparent, appeasement, applicant, appointment, apportionment, ardent, argent, argument, armament, arraignment, arrangement, arrant, arrogant, absent, absorbent, abundant, accelerant, accident, accompaniment, accomplishment, abandonment, abatement, aberrant, abhorrent, abortifacient, accountant, accouterment, achievement, acknowledgement, acknowledgment, adamant, adherent, adjacent, adjournment, adjustment, adjutant, adolescent, adornment, advancement, advertisement, advisement, afferent, affiant, affluent, ascendant, aspirant, assailant, assessment, assignment, assistant, assortment, astonishment, astringent, atonement, attachment, attainment, attendant, banishment, basement, battlement, belligerent, bemusement, beneficent, benevolent, bereavement, betterment, bewilderment, blandishment, blatant, bombardment, brilliant, buoyant, celebrant, claimant, clairvoyant, Clement, client, coefficient, cogent, cognizant, coherent, coincident, combatant, commandment, commencement, commitment, compartment, competent, complacent, complaisant, complement, compliant, comportment, concealment, concomitant, concurrent, condiment, confident, confinement, confluent, consequent, consignment, consistent, constant, constituent, consultant, containment, contentment, contestant, contingent, convalescent, convenient, convent, convergent, conversant, coolant, copayment, corespondent, cormorant, correspondent, Courant, Crescent, crosscurrent, current, curtailment, ignorant, immigrant, impairment, impatient, impeachment, impediment, implement, important, impotent, impoundment, impoverishment, impressment, imprisonment, improvement, imprudent, inadvertent, incandescent, debarment, debasement, decadent, decedent, decent, declarant, decongestant, defendant, deferment, defiant, deficient, defoliant, delinquent, deodorant, department, dependent, deployment, deportment, depressant, derailment, descendant, descendent, despondent, detachment, detergent, determent, deterrent, detriment, development, deviant, different, diligent, diminishment, disagreement, disappointment, disarmament, disbarment, disbursement, discernment, discordant, discouragement, disenchantment, disenfranchisement, disengagement, disestablishment, disgruntlement, disillusionment, disinfectant, disinvestment, dismantlement, dismemberment, disobedient, dispersant, displacement, dissident, distant, divalent, divergent, divestment, docent, dormant, easement, ebullient, efferent, effervescent, efficient, effluent, elegant, element, elephant, eloquent, embankment, embarrassment, embayment, embellishment, embezzlement, embodiment, emergent, emigrant, emplacement, employment, empowerment, enactment, encampment, enchantment, encirclement, encouragement, encroachment, endangerment, endearment, endorsement, endowment, enforcement, engagement, enhancement, enjoyment, enlargement, enlightenment, enlistment, enrichment, enrollment, enslavement, entanglement, entertainment, enticement, entitlement, entombment, entrant, entrapment, entrenchment, environment, equipment, equivalent, errant, escapement, escarpment, esculent, establishment, estrangement, evanescent, evident, excellent, excitement, excrement, exigent, existent, exorbitant, expectant, expectorant, expedient, experiment, extant, extinguishment, extravagant, exuberant, exultant, Fabricant, fervent, figment, filament, flagrant, flamboyant, flatulent, flippant, fluent, fluorescent, formant, fragment, fragrant, fraudulent, frequent, fulfillment, gallant, garment, garnishment, giant, government, grandiloquent, grandparent, harassment, hesitant, hydrant, incessant, incident, incipient, incitement, inclement, incoherent, incompetent, inconsistent, inconvenient, increment, incumbent, indecent, independent, indictment, indifferent, indigent, indolent, inducement, indulgent, inefficient, infant, informant, infotainment, infrequent, infringement, ingredient, inhabitant, inhalant, inherent, innocent, inpatient, insignificant, insistent, insolent, insolvent, installment, instant, instrument, insufficient, insurgent, integument, intelligent, intercurrent, interdependent, intermittent, internment, intersegment, intolerant, intransigent, invariant, investment, involvement, iridescent, irrelevant, irreverent, irritant, itinerant, jubilant, judgement, judgment, latent, leant, lenient, ligament, litigant, lubricant, lucent, luminescent, luxuriant, magnificent, malevolent, maltreatment, management, measurement, merchant, micromanagement, migrant, militant, miscreant, misgovernment, misjudgment, mismanagement, misstatement, mistreatment, moment, monovalent, monument, mordant, movement, mutant, nascent, negligent, noncombatant, nonexistent, nongovernment, nonmanagement, nonpayment, nonresident, nonviolent, nourishment, nutrient, obedient, observant, obsolescent, occupant, odorant, ointment, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, operant, opulent, ornament, orpiment, outpatient, outplacement, overconfident, overpayment, overstatement, oxidant, pageant, parchment, parent, parliament, participant, patent, patient, pavement, payment, peasant, penchant, pendant, penitent, percipient, persistent, petulant, pheasant, pigment, piquant, placement, pleasant, pliant, poignant, pollutant, postponement, postretirement, potent, preadolescent, precedent, predicament, prejudgment, prepayment, prescient, present, presentment, prevalent, procurement, proficient, pronouncement, propellant, protestant, provident, prudent, prurient, pungent, punishment, pursuant, puzzlement, quadrant, quiescent, quotient, radiant, rampant, readjustment, reagent, realignment, reappointment, reapportionment, rearmament, rearrangement, reassessment, reassignment, recalcitrant, recent, recipient, recruitment, recurrent, redeployment, redevelopment, redundant, reemployment, reenactment, refinement, refreshment, refrigerant, refurbishment, Regent, regiment, registrant, reimbursement, reinforcement, reinstatement, reinvestment, relevant, reliant, reluctant, reminiscent, repayment, repellent, repentant, replacement, replenishment, requirement, resentment, resettlement, resident, resilient, resistant, resplendent, respondent, restatement, resultant, resurgent, retardant, reticent, retirement, retrenchment, reverent, rodent, rudiment, sacrament, salient, seafront, sealant, sediment, segment, sentiment, Sequent, sergeant, serpent, servant, settlement, shipment, significant, silent, solvent, somnolent, statement, stimulant, strident, stringent, student, subsequent, subservient, succulent, sufficient, supergiant, superintendent, supplement, supplicant, suppressant, surfactant, talent, tangent, temperament, tenement, testament, tetravalent, tolerant, torrent, tournament, transcendent, transient, translucent, transparent, treatment, trenchant, trident, triumphant, truant, truculent, tumescent, turbulent, tyrant, undercurrent, underdevelopment, underemployment, undergarment, underpayment, understatement, unemployment, unimportant, unpleasant, unrepentant, urgent, vacant, vagrant, valiant, variant, vehement, verdant, vibrant, vigilant, violent, virulent, warrant, wonderment. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-d-i-n-n-o-s-s-t" | |
-1 letter: onanists. | |
-2 letters: anoints, nasions, nations, onanist, sonants. | |
-3 letters: adonis, anions, anoint, danios, donnas, nasion, nation, nitons, odists, sadist, saints, santos, satins, sonant, stains, stands, tsadis. | |
-4 letters: adios, adits, anion, antis, danio, datos, dints, ditas, doats, doits, donas, donna, iotas, niton, nonas, oasis, oasts, odist, ossia, ostia, sadis, saids, sains, saint, sands, santo, sasin, satin. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-d-i-n-n-o-s-s-t" | |
+2 letters: dissonantly, standpoints. | |
+3 letters: designations, destinations, dispensation, mandolinists, subdominants, syndications. | |
+4 letters: admonishments, condensations, desalinations, disinflations, dispensations, dissemination, mountainsides, nonassociated, transductions, transudations. | |
+5 letters: antidepression, antimodernists, arrondissement, considerations, consolidations, contrabandists, coordinateness, demonstrations, densifications, diagnosticians, disconsolation, disinfestation, dispensational, disseminations, foundationless, inordinateness, insubordinates, modernisations, nonestablished, outlandishness, prostaglandins, sedimentations, subordinations. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Sounds 6. Quotations: Familiar 7. Usage Frequency 8. Expressions | 9. Expressions: Internet 10. Translations: Modern 11. Derivations 12. Rhymes | 13. Anagrams 14. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.