WORD OF THE DAY
Disagreeable sounds can be called dissonance. You know it's dissonance if you have the strong desire to cover your ears with your hands.
Racket, noise, dissonance — all can describe sounds that are not pleasant. While some musicians purposely add a little dissonance into their melodies to create an unexpected sound, others, like someone who just started drum lessons, creates dissonance by accident. Dissonance can also be a conflict between people or opinions, like the dissonance you feel when you want to do something but your parents say "no."
Want to expand your vocabulary?
Get Word of the Day delivered straight to your inbox!
Vocabulary lists containing dissonance
Learn these words that contain the root son, from the Latin verb sonare, "to sound." Here are links to the complete set of Common Senses lists: Hearing: Phon / Aud / Son Sight: Vid, Vis / Spec, Spect, Spic / Op, Ops, Opt Touch: Path / Sent, Sens / Tact, Tang
Bryan Stevenson details his experiences as a defense attorney, focusing on the case of Walter McMillian, who insisted on his innocence even after he was sentenced to the death penalty. This book provides an eye-opening behind-the-scenes look at how the criminal justice system works — or doesn't.
In Ralph Ellison's classic novel, a nameless narrator struggles with his sense of identity in a world that treats him like he is invisible.
