discordant
adjective
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Discord, a word more common in earlier centuries than today, means basically "conflict", so discordant often means "conflicting". The opinions of Supreme Court justices are frequently discordant; justices who disagree with the Court's decision usually write a dissenting opinion. Discordant is often used with a somewhat musical meaning, suggesting that a single wrong note or harmony has been heard in the middle of a performance—even though musical words such as chord actually come from a different Latin word, meaning "cord" or "string" (a reference to the strings of ancient instruments such as the lyre).
Synonyms
Examples of discordant in a Sentence
Salvador Hernandez, Los Angeles Times, 9 Aug. 2024
The issue is that there’s not much else left to occupy almost seven hours of television, and the show’s glacial pace and discordant interludes become numbing in their own way.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 26 July 2024
Perhaps reluctant to get too coordinated, a la the classic looks of Destiny’s Child, the result was ultimately discordant, with silhouettes and materials at odds, carefully avoiding the trap of looking too ketchup and mustard.
—Jacqui Palumbo, CNN, 24 July 2024
Cue the discordant flutes and puffing vocalizations à la White Lotus.
—Lisa Kwon, Vulture, 10 Jan. 2024
See all Example Sentences for discordant 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'discordant.' 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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“Discordant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discordant. Accessed 19 Aug. 2024.
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discordant
adjective
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