How to Use dissonant in a Sentence

dissonant

adjective
Definition of dissonantnext
Synonyms for dissonantnext
  • This was played with élan over dissonant swirling in the strings.
    — Christian Hertzog, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Nov. 2023
  • That 30-year curve is part of the dissonant music of Roland’s life.
    — Los Angeles Times, 12 Sep. 2022
  • The flash of a police car appears, then a dissonant siren sounds.
    — Dave Eggers, The New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2020
  • The answer so far has been a pretty weird and dissonant one.
    — Benjamin Wallace-Wells, The New Yorker, 16 Jan. 2024
  • Or might just scare people a little bit too much, or are just too dissonant and too hard to take?
    — Michaela Zee, Variety, 29 Feb. 2024
  • Horns have two notes, which is what creates that dissonant horn sound.
    — Ray Magliozzi, courant.com, 15 July 2019
  • Then there are the dissonant piano chords, the 808s and dramatic strings.
    — Raisa Bruner, Time, 30 Aug. 2019
  • This is yet another season that brings a dissonant clash of hope and fear, chaos and progress.
    — Susanna Schrobsdorff, Time, 21 Mar. 2021
  • Even when the hooks are sweet or seductive, her work is still dissonant and provocative.
    — Amanda Petrusich, The New Yorker, 30 May 2022
  • At the end of the second movement, falling glissandos in the strings provoked a dissonant buildup, which gave way to a lush melody.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Apr. 2022
  • The bear can be seen wandering around the apartment and at one point went to a piano, putting its paws on the keys playing a few loud and dissonant notes.
    — Chris Stirewalt, Fox News, 6 June 2017
  • Most people who compose for film think the music and the actions of the people in the film have to be consonant or dissonant.
    — Lily Moayeri, SPIN, 9 Feb. 2024
  • In the same way, RZA kind of introduced a dissonant element to hip-hop.
    — Jonathan Rowe, SPIN, 19 Jan. 2022
  • There are bluesy themes but played over dissonant harmonies.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Jan. 2022
  • Ah Gau and Hwee Bin were drowned out by the singing, a dissonant chorus of residents’ voices slipping in and out of synch.
    — Rachel Heng, The New Yorker, 31 May 2021
  • There is a minor dissonant note in these results above.
    — Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 7 Sep. 2012
  • The concluding unresolved dissonant splat of a chord seemed as sensible a way to end the piece as any.
    — James R. Oestreich, New York Times, 26 Feb. 2018
  • Join the internet on a dissonant journey through the origin story of the cashew below.
    — Ashley Hoffman, Time, 12 Sep. 2019
  • To the ear, the multiple frequencies can sound a bit like dissonant keys on a piano being struck all at once.
    — Josh Lederman, Sun-Sentinel.com, 13 Oct. 2017
  • Later, both motifs sound against a pileup of dissonant chords, which is like a wall through which neither can pass.
    — Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 24 Mar. 2022
  • The smell of vinegar, brash and dissonant, wafted out of my childhood kitchen often, tickling my nose.
    — G. Daniela Galarza, Washington Post, 7 Sep. 2023
  • Last year, the Tour picked up a complementary voice, albeit a dissonant one.
    — Fluto Shinzawa, BostonGlobe.com, 29 June 2018
  • But in the process, El has been reduced to a dissonant mix of heroic self-sacrifice and homicidal rage.
    — Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 6 July 2022
  • And then that huge, dissonant, gorgeous, ugly guitar chord that begins the song.
    — Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 2 Nov. 2023
  • The music is equal parts dissonant, jarring, and melodic, sometimes sounding more like a sci-fi score than an opera.
    — Paul Ross, Popular Mechanics, 27 July 2018
  • There’s little in the way of comfort and joy to be found in the story of a child freezing on an urban corner, nor in the spare and sometimes dissonant harmonies in the music.
    — Rob Hubbard, Twin Cities, 12 Dec. 2019
  • Trump’s Twitter finger taps out a dissonant melody and cranks it up to 11 to drown out reality.
    — Brooke Gladstone, Slate Magazine, 18 May 2017
  • Perhaps mapping the footprints of the Power Five offers the best way to show dissonant these conference brands will soon sound.
    — Jim Sergent, USA TODAY, 18 Aug. 2023
  • Then Garrick mentions something that’s been redacted in the original file, and the sound gets dissonant.
    — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 1 June 2023
  • The new series is emotionally hollow, tonally dissonant and yells its themes at the audience like an unhinged political podcast.
    — Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 22 Feb. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dissonant.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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