dissonance Hear it!

dissonance Definition

dis·so·nance (disə nəns)

noun

  1. an inharmonious sound or combination of sounds; discord
  2. any lack of harmony or agreement; incongruity
  3. Music a chord that sounds incomplete or unfulfilled until resolved to a harmonious chord

Etymology: ME dissonaunce < LL dissonantia < L dissonans, prp. of dissonare, to be discordant < dis-, apart + sonus, a sound

dissonance Synonyms

dissonance

n.

  1. Discord

    discordance, jangle, cacophony, disharmony; see noise 1, 2.

  2. Disagreement

    conflict, incongruity, discrepancy, disaccord; see disagreement 1, inconsistency.

dissonance Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • reduce: In order to reduce that dissonance, rather than renounce their beliefs, they did the exact opposite.
  • create: Yet, despite the recent harmony, there is much that could create dissonance.
  • experience: If they try to have open minds they experience cognitive dissonance.
  • cause: In such a situation there is little dissonance caused by a chaplain traveling from a distant campus.
  • use: In this medium he was able to convey great depth of feeling, often using dissonance to great effect.
  • avoid: A more practical approach for combining wine with food is to avoid any possible dissonance between them.

Adjective modifier

  • cognitive: The theory of cognitive dissonance is supposed to explain why people gamble.
  • cultural: In Chapter 5, the discussion and analysis is focused on the concepts of cultural identity and cultural dissonance.
  • emotional: Both the film and the objects explore this emotional dissonance.
  • more: Through exposure to more cognitive dissonance, the decision was further reinforced.
  • extreme: This is brooding music, often slow, taking time to unfold, embracing extreme dissonance as well as tender, diatonic harmonies.
  • unexpected: That of course means that there will be an unexpected dissonance within what would have been clearly identifiable scientific, yet artificial parameters.

Modifies a noun

reduction: Notice that Goodin has proposed an alternative account to the cognitive dissonance reduction one.

Browse dictionary entries near dissonance

  1. dissolvent
  2. dissolve
  3. dissolution
  4. dissolute
  5. dissoluble
  6. dissociation
  7. dissociate
  8. dissocial
  9. dissociable
  10. dissipation
  1. dissonant
  2. dissuade
  3. dissuasion
  4. dissuasive
  5. dissyllable
  6. dissymmetry
  7. dist
  8. Dist Atty
  9. distaff
  10. distain