dissonance

UK: /ˈdɪsənəns/ US: /ˈdɪsənəns/ ,(dis′ə nəns)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

dis•so•nance /ˈdɪsənəns/   n. [uncountable]

1. harsh sound;
   discord:
   the dissonance of the untuned violins.
2. lack of harmony or agreement:
   no way to reconcile such dissonance of opinion.

dis•so•nant, adj.: 

dissonant colors.

See -son-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

dis•so•nance  (dis′ə nəns), n. 

1. inharmonious or harsh sound;
   discord;
   cacophony.
2. Music and Dance
   • a simultaneous combination of tones conventionally accepted as being in a state of unrest and needing completion.
   • an unresolved, discordant chord or interval. Cf. consonance (def. 3). See illus. under resolution. 
3. disagreement or incongruity.

• Late Latin dissonantia, equivalent. to disson- (see dissonant) + -antia -ance
• 1565–75

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

dissonance / ˈdɪsənəns/, dissonancy noun

1. a discordant combination of sounds
2. lack of agreement or consistency
3. a sensation commonly associated with all intervals of the second and seventh, all diminished and augmented intervals, and all chords based on these intervals
   Compare consonance3
4. an interval or chord of this kind