Adjacent Words

Cacophony definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CACOPHONY, n.
1. In rhetoric, an uncouth or disagreeable sound of words, proceeding from the meeting of harsh letters or syllables.
2. In medicine, a depraved voice; an altered state of the voice.
3. In music, a combination of discordant sounds.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a loud harsh or strident noise [syn: blare, blaring, cacophony, clamor, din]
2: loud confusing disagreeable sounds

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural -nies) Date: circa 1656 harsh or discordant sound ; dissonance 2; specifically harshness in the sound of words or phrases

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. -ies) 1 a harsh discordant mixture of sound. 2 dissonance; discord. Derivatives: cacophonous adj. Etymology: F cacophonie f. Gk kakophonia f. kakophonos f. kakos bad + phone sound

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Cacophony Ca*coph"o*ny, n.; pl. Cacophonies. [Gr. ?????????; ????? bad + ???? sound: cf. F. Cacophonie.] 1. (Rhet.) An uncouth or disagreable sound of words, owing to the concurrence of harsh letters or syllables. ``Cacophonies of all kinds.'' --Pope. 2. (Mus.) A combination of discordant sounds. 3. (Med.) An unhealthy state of the voice.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(cacophonies) You can describe a loud, unpleasant mixture of sounds as a cacophony. All around was bubbling a cacophony of voices. N-COUNT: usu sing, usu N of n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Discord, jarring, jar, harsh sound. 2. (Rhet.) Inharmonious phraseology, discordant diction.

Moby Thesaurus

Babel, Gothicism, agitation, atonalism, atonality, bad taste, barbarism, barbarousness, bedlam, bluster, bombasticness, brawl, broil, brouhaha, cacology, chaos, clinker, clumsiness, coarseness, commotion, confusion of tongues, cracked voice, crudeness, cumbrousness, defacement, discord, discordance, discordancy, disfigurement, disharmony, dissonance, dissonancy, dissonant chord, disturbance, dryness, dysphemism, ebullition, embroilment, fanaticism, ferment, flap, flatness, fomentation, foofaraw, frenzy, fume, furor, furore, fury, fuss, gracelessness, grossness, gruffness, gutturalism, gutturality, gutturalness, harshness, heaviness, hell, hoarseness, homeliness, hubbub, huskiness, ill-balanced sentences, ill-favoredness, impropriety, impurity, inconcinnity, incorrectness, indecorousness, inelegance, inelegancy, infelicity, inharmoniousness, inharmony, lack of finish, lack of polish, leadenness, noise, off note, pandemonium, passion, plainness, pompousness, ponderousness, poor diction, racket, rage, raspiness, raucity, roughness, row, ruckus, rudeness, rumpus, scrapiness, scratchiness, sesquipedalianism, sesquipedality, shapelessness, sharpness, slipshod construction, sour note, sourness, static, stertorousness, stiltedness, storminess, stridor, tastelessness, tempestuousness, thickness, throatiness, tumult, tumultuousness, tunelessness, turbulence, turgidity, turmoil, uglification, uglifying, ugliness, unaestheticness, unattractiveness, unbeautifulness, uncomeliness, uncouthness, uneuphoniousness, ungainliness, ungracefulness, unhandsomeness, unharmoniousness, unloveliness, unmusicality, unpleasingness, unprettiness, unrefinement, unseemliness, unshapeliness, unsightliness, untunefulness, unwieldiness, uproar, upset, vulgarism, vulgarity, wildness, wolf, zeal, zealousness