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Glite Dictionary
⚡ Disagreement 🎵 Harsh sounds
discord

discord

2 8.3
A harsh mix of sounds that is unpleasant to hear
  • noun
  • /ˈdɪskɔrd/
  • Literature
translation icon : disonancia
  • In shrill discord, other voices sang a litany of my faults.

Our harmonies and discords changed the voices we recognized as our own.

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Examples

  • For art was believed to either move one's soul into harmony or discord.

    Blog text (9)

  • I never heard so musical a discord, such sweet thunder.

    Return with Honor (1999)

  • Did the most beautiful song of my heart have to end up in discord?

    Academic text (1999)

  • Even with the discord, people inside were attempting to sing.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • And should the empress know this discord's ground, the music would not please.

    Titus (1999)

  • Our harmonies and discords changed the voices we recognized as our own.

    Harvard University

  • A complaining clamour, modulated in savage discords, filled our ears.

    Academic text (2018)

  • The composer created a piece that included moments of discord, showcasing the tension between contrasting melodies.

  • In the symphony, the discord between the strings and woodwinds added a dramatic effect to the performance.

  • The unexpected discord in the final chord left the audience in stunned silence, highlighting the piece's emotional depth.

Synonyms

cacophony
vsdiscord
14 8.4

A loud, unpleasant mix of different sounds

focuses on harsh musical lack of harmony rather than volume or mixture
dissonance
vsdiscord
  • Specialized
2 7.7

A harsh or unpleasant combination of sounds often in music

is used in literary contexts rather than neutral technical speech
inharmony
vsdiscord
1 8.1

A clashing sound in music when notes do not fit

names a harsh combined sound rather than an abstract absence of harmony
discordancy
vsdiscord
1 8.2

A situation where people or things do not agree

applies to harsh musical combinations, not to social disagreement
discordance
vsdiscord
8.4

A harsh, unpleasant mix of sounds that do not match

is the literary form of this idea, used for poetic effect

Antonyms

harmony
38 2.8

A combination of musical notes that sound pleasant together

Compounds

apple of discord
  • Literature
1 8.9

A thing that causes an argument between people

How Harmonious

harmony
38 2.8
consonance
1 8.0
discord
  • Literature
2 8.3
cacophony
14 8.4

Surface Forms

discord singular
discords plural

Morphology

discord = dis + cord

Although historically analyzable as dis- + cord (heart), the 'cord' element is not a productive modern English morpheme meaning 'heart', so the musical sense ('harsh combination of sounds') is not transparently derivable by typical learners.

Etymology

Discord comes from the Latin parts dis- 'not' or 'apart' and cor/cord 'heart'. Later people used the idea of being 'not together' for sounds that clash, so discord can mean a harsh or clashing sound in music.