1
as in shrill
marked by or producing a harsh combination of sounds
discordant tones coming from the poorly tuned instrument
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in noisy
making loud, confused, and usually unharmonious sounds
the discordant cries of gulls fighting over the fishing boat's castoffs
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in aggressive
feeling or displaying eagerness to fight
a troubled, discordant family that would benefit from professional counseling
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in conflicting
not being in agreement or harmony
his views on the proper role of diet in maintaining good health are certainly discordant with most contemporary opinions on the subject
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of discordant
Some events grapple with the two-hundred-and-fiftieth birthday of our discordant country.
—
Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 27 Feb. 2026
But Cialente also captures the discordant keys of a multigenerational household, from childlike angst to youthful rebellion to marital frustration.
—Literary Hub, 22 Jan. 2026
But our peace – our faith and trust in ever-present God, divine Love – does affect circumstances and can heal a discordant situation.
—Madora Kibbe, Christian Science Monitor, 19 Dec. 2025
Baumbach’s remarkably faithful take on Don DeLillo’s absurdist 1985 novel is a half-thrilling, half-discordant attempt to harmonize two distinct voices.
—Scott Tobias, Vulture, 5 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for discordant
Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 27 Feb. 2026
But Cialente also captures the discordant keys of a multigenerational household, from childlike angst to youthful rebellion to marital frustration.
—Literary Hub, 22 Jan. 2026
But our peace – our faith and trust in ever-present God, divine Love – does affect circumstances and can heal a discordant situation.
—Madora Kibbe, Christian Science Monitor, 19 Dec. 2025
Baumbach’s remarkably faithful take on Don DeLillo’s absurdist 1985 novel is a half-thrilling, half-discordant attempt to harmonize two distinct voices.
—Scott Tobias, Vulture, 5 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for discordant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for discordant
Adjective
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On shrill winter nights, Moscow’s power is conspicuous, its Orthodox cathedrals and Stalinist high-rises illuminated, though the view falls dim in the autumn and spring, shrouded in sheets of greige.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Apr. 2026
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The chaos is still an acceptable price to pay for Birney’s expertly offputting performance, a shrill mania that gets increasingly comic over time.—
Alison Herman,
Variety,
26 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Remember that’s with a couple of wars going on and a bunch of noisy macros.—
Evan Clark,
Footwear News,
20 May 2026
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In a market this noisy, the founders who win are not the ones who react to every new model release or competitor announcement.—
Harlem Capital,
Forbes.com,
20 May 2026
Adjective
-
Gone was the meek servant child, replaced by a confident woman who remained composed during aggressive cross-examination.—
Yudhijit Bhattacharjee,
New Yorker,
18 May 2026
-
The new reality finds those legacy players, with the single exception of Disney, playing defense as tech’s flywheel spins faster, and their pursuit of TV ad dollars becomes even more aggressive.—
Alex Weprin,
HollywoodReporter,
18 May 2026
Adjective
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Poor communication between teams pursuing conflicting goals, actions that contradict core objectives, failing oversight and any number of other wire-crossings can have serious consequences.—
Paul Fitzgerald,
Rolling Stone,
14 May 2026
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Both the union and company have made conflicting statements since then, saying the other has refused to meet.—
Maya Wilkins,
Chicago Tribune,
14 May 2026
Adjective
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Eisenberg plays a lot of acoustic guitar, sticks mostly to normie chords, and largely avoids dissonant tangles, opting for a bright, translucent sound.—
Reed Jackson,
SPIN,
6 Apr. 2026
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The Brooklyn psych-folk artist’s 2025 debut, newly reissued by AD 93, is dissonant, ghostly, and otherworldly, summoning complex emotions with sparse tools.—
Vrinda Jagota,
Pitchfork,
19 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Analysts who followed Syria's civil war and militant groups in the region say ISIS was at one point a serious political rival to the more nationalist TIP.—
Emily Feng,
NPR,
17 May 2026
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Al-Mainuki was born in 1982 in Mainok, or Mainuki, a village in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno, the heart of an insurgency crisis following the formation of the Boko Haram militant group around 2009.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
16 May 2026
Adjective
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The inconsistent role wreaked havoc with his shot.—
Jon Krawczynski,
New York Times,
17 May 2026
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Approval processes often depend on manual back-and-forth, while visibility beyond tier one suppliers is inconsistent at best.—
Alex Saric,
Forbes.com,
15 May 2026
Adjective
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Jesus proved over and over again the all-encompassing authority of God, which destroys all inharmonious conditions, including sin and disease.—
Thomas Mitchinson,
Christian Science Monitor,
30 Sep. 2025
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Setting Discordant Personal Goals A 2023 study published in Current Psychology finds that partners’ inharmonious goals can have detrimental effects on relationships.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes,
29 Mar. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Discordant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/discordant. Accessed 23 May. 2026.
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