Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Having a harsh, unpleasant sound; discordant.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Sounding harshly; ill-sounding; discordant: opposed to euphonious.
Wiktionary
- adj. Containing, consisting of, or producing harsh, unpleasant or discordant sounds.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. having an unpleasant sound
Etymologies
- From Ancient Greek κακός (kakos, "bad") + φωνή (phonē, "voice"). (Wiktionary)
- From Greek kakophōnos : kakos, bad; see kakka- in Indo-European roots + phōnē, sound; see bhā-2 in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“One cannot escape the feeling that, for these slim tales, appearance between these covers is a kind of cacophonous family reunion, where the relatives have long been far-flung across continents, and yet immediately have thousands of things to say.”
“Some Singaporeans chimed in, asking 'how can Orchard Road be a world-class shopping haven and rival other major cities such as Tokyo when it is a free-for-all zone for anyone to hawk their stuff?', perhaps in reference to the "particularly irksome", "cacophonous" strains of buskers trying to make a living amidst the noise of nearby roadshows.”
“We're also aware that the large crowds expected at the rallies could produce a cacophonous din, one in which you are unable to discern which jokes are being made by audience members, counter-protesters, or the day's main attractions — and, worse still, where observers may think you are laughing at an anti-Republican joke when you are actually laughing at an anti-Democrat joke.”
The Guardian: How to cover satirical political events - chuckle in a non-genuine manner
“William Brice's work has been a low key yet persistent force in the increasingly cacophonous Los Angeles art landscape over the decades.”
The Huffington Post: ArtScene: Southern California's Top Ten Exhibition Picks for 2010
“In light of this "curious case of the cacophonous snack pack," I find that many people see sustainability as a version of a Faustian dilemma; they often knowingly make choices that have immediate personal benefits, but in the long run are disastrous for all of us.”
The Huffington Post: Ron Ashkenas: Sustainability's Faustian Dilemma
“Saracens expect a crowd of at least 45,000 for their match against Leinster at Wembley on Saturday, but what they would give for a home like Clermont's, which is filled regularly with a cacophonous, hostile horde dressed in blue and yellow.”
The Guardian: Saracens ambition hands Heineken Cup victory to Clermont Auvergne
“But the commentary, he suggests, can be excessive: I liken it to a cacophonous symphony.”
“And the pulpy letters page is no grand panacea; it is simply another small and humble patch of turf on which to remember what is good about geeked-out community that isn't as unwieldly and cacophonous as a San Diego Comic-Con floor.”
The Washington Post: The Riff: Why DC Comics is right to bring back the letters columns of yore
“Hacker: Perhaps it is more about "change" than "passing" -- there's often the first of something replacing the last of something: the Tunisian Jews opening kosher couscous restaurants; the homeless men setting up housekeeping under the bridge; the little act of courtesy of the café waiter confronted with a cacophonous traffic jam.”
“Hacker: Perhaps it is more about "change" than "passing" -- there's often the first of something replacing the last of something: the Tunisian Jews opening kosher couscous restaurants; the homeless men setting up housekeeping under the bridge; the little act of courtesy of the café waiter confronted with a cacophonous traffic jam.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘cacophonous’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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Words build meanings from origins( et...
These come from gamma meditation ,I think.
discursive, exogenous, machinations, purportedly, sumptuous, congruity, cantankerous, incongruous, festoon, hessian, ratiocinative, stratigraphic and 2046 more...
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Gesundheit
Words that sound like sneezes
zucchini, zoology, wysiwyg, woodchuck, withhold, wichita, vacuum, twelfth, syzygy, synchronous, swatch, supersede and 120 more...
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phono-, phon-, -phony
relating to sound
phonograph, phonics, phonology, telephony, phoneme, phone, telephone, phonautograph, phonetic, phonebook, phonography, phonolite and 107 more...
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Words describing singing voices
mellifluous, gravelly, rusty bathtub, velvet fog, howling, laconic, fluttering, quavery, hypnotic, stilted, lilting, sonorous and 47 more...
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Descriptions of Sound
jingling, gurgling, horrisonous, horrisonant, crepitant, screeching, ringing, sonorous, clamorous, rattling, roaring, breathy and 71 more...
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A Refined Lexicon
ambivalence, ambivalent, equivocal, equivocation, equivocate, prevaricate, prevarication, quietude, quiescent, quiescence, vanquish, pluviosity and 137 more...
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Appellations
States of ment.
off kilter, fervent, nonchalant, exuberant, turbid, verbose, eloquent, vicarious, gallivant, orotund, amalgamate, accentuate and 285 more...
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collection
sanguine, vie, antebellum, glacial, treacly, iconoclast, lissom, anathema, serendipity, parsimonious, histrionic, contemptuous and 279 more...
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dark and bright words of shine and fi...
scotophil, scotoma, scotia, shed, shadow, shade, scone, whiting, edelweiss, light, lightning, lucina and 349 more...
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List 1
erudite, iniquitous, acrimonious, implacable, fractious, irascible, debonair, churlish, brusque, sycophantic, phlegmatic, indomitable and 108 more...
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play words
words for a play
pert, vicissitude, melancholy, vexation, gaud, attestation, renunciation, wax, wrought, sunder, antipodes, reckoning and 236 more...
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GRE List
anthem, ablution, apocrypha, augur, cardinal, cathedral, chant, chapel, cloister, conformist, cult, devout and 145 more...
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Nick Yeow’s Words
Recently learned words that I like.
pharmaceutical, bowdlerise, connoisseur, cognoscenti, ostracise, aforementioned, antepenultimate, concatenate, extraterrestrial, psychiatrist, firmament, gastronomical and 100 more...
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stpeter's Words
abase, abasement, abashed, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abhorrent, abide, abject, ablation, abnegation and 3536 more...
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eekspaceship's Words
quixotic, literacy, phantasmagoria, ersatz, anachronism, macabre, soliloquy, ensorcelled, coalesce, ephemera, apothegm, zephyr and 120 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for cacophonous.

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