Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Jarring, discordant sound; dissonance.
- noun The use of harsh or discordant sounds in literary composition, as for poetic effect.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A combination of discordant sounds; specifically, in rhetoric, a faulty choice or arrangement of words, producing inharmonious or discordant combinations of sounds, or too great frequency of such combinations as are for any reason unpleasant to the ear; also, the uncouth or disagreeable sound so produced: the opposite of
euphony . - noun In pathology, a depraved voice; an altered state of the voice.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Rhet.) An uncouth or disagreeable sound of words, owing to the concurrence of harsh letters or syllables.
- noun (Mus.) A combination of discordant sounds.
- noun (Med.) An unhealthy state of the voice.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A mix of
discordant sounds ;dissonance .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a loud harsh or strident noise
- noun loud confusing disagreeable sounds
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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On one side was Andrew Keen, author of The Cult of the Amateur, railing against what he called the cacophony of Web 2.0 and the calamitous effects of user-generated content on our culture.
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On one side was Andrew Keen, author of The Cult of the Amateur, railing against what he called the cacophony of Web 2.0 and the calamitous effects of user-generated content on our culture.
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Adding to the cacophony is the remodeling of the upstairs apartment.
Wanderlustress: 2004
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Adding to the cacophony is the remodeling of the upstairs apartment.
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Lost in cacophony of the horse-race press coverage are the policies that the Republicans are pushing.
Joseph A. Palermo: Civic-Minded Plutocrats Joseph A. Palermo 2010
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Tracking sports 'online cacophony is tricky enough when just focusing on league websites.
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Lost in cacophony of the horse-race press coverage are the policies that the Republicans are pushing.
Joseph A. Palermo: Civic-Minded Plutocrats Joseph A. Palermo 2010
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Their cacophony is making the biggest mark of the information age.
We are all the media 2009
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Lost in cacophony of the horse-race press coverage are the policies that the Republicans are pushing.
Joseph A. Palermo: Civic-Minded Plutocrats Joseph A. Palermo 2010
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Lost in cacophony of the horse-race press coverage are the policies that the Republicans are pushing.
Joseph A. Palermo: Civic-Minded Plutocrats Joseph A. Palermo 2010
seanahan commented on the word cacophony
a rather beautiful sounding word, I think
December 2, 2006
kingrat47 commented on the word cacophony
I actually think it's a great word because it sounds like what it is-a particularly complex onomatopeia.
December 10, 2006
thebighenry commented on the word cacophony
counterfeit caca
April 28, 2008
shevek commented on the word cacophony
Cacophony sounds like shit.
May 28, 2008
milosrdenstvi commented on the word cacophony
From the Greek kakos (bad) and phonē (sound)
August 13, 2008
lambert commented on the word cacophony
Is it pronounced KAH-CO-PHO-NEE or is it prounounced some other way?
October 27, 2008
frindley commented on the word cacophony
I'd pronounce it ka-KO-fo-nee, with first syllable to rhyme with "cack" and a stress on the second syllable, which rhymes with "coffer".
Great word!
October 27, 2008
bilby commented on the word cacophony
Despite a promising level of unruliness, cacophony's audition lacked enough - how was it written in the margin notes ... malignancy? - to secure a contract as a My Little Phony.
October 27, 2008
adtsunami commented on the word cacophony
I particularly enjoy the adjectival form, 'cacophonous!' But kind of hard to use without sounding like a word snob...
November 15, 2008