cacophony

noun

ca·coph·o·ny ka-ˈkä-fə-nē

-ˈkȯ-,

also -ˈka-

plural cacophonies

Synonyms of cacophony next

: harsh or jarring sound : dissonance sense 2

specifically : harshness in the sound of words or phrases

: an incongruous or chaotic mixture : a striking combination

a cacophony of color

a cacophony of smells

Did you know?

Cacophony Is a Noisy Word

Words that descend from the Greek word phōnē are making noise in English. Why? Because phōnē means "sound" or "voice." Cacophony comes from a joining of the Greek prefix kak- (from kakos,meaning "bad") with phōnē, so it essentially means "bad sound." Symphony, a word that indicates harmony or agreement in sound, traces to phōnē and the Greek prefix syn-, which means "together." Polyphony refers to a style of musical composition in which two or more independent melodies are juxtaposed in harmony, and it comes from a combination of phōnē and the Greek prefix poly-, meaning "many." And euphony, a word for a pleasing or sweet sound, combines phōnē with eu-, a prefix that means "good."

Examples of cacophony in a Sentence

The cacophony of phlegmatic and tubercular lungs was punctuated here and there by a moan or a scream of someone terrified, thrashing in the throes of a nightmare. —

Ronald Gearles, Undoing Time, 2001

Seething gas just beneath the sun's visible surface generates a cacophony of sound waves that ring the sun like a giant bell. —

R. Cowen, Science News, 18 Mar. 2000

Shell casings littered the highway, where a cacophony of car alarms and sobbing rent the winter air. —

Jeff Stein, GQ, December 1997

… no matter how forbearing he might have been, there were times when he simply needed to escape that cacophony of piping voices … —

T. Coraghessan Boyle, The Road to Wellville, 1993

The sounds of shouting added to the cacophony on the streets. the cacophony of a pet store full of animals See More

Recent Examples on the Web The event, typically an all-hours hubbub of music, art cars, laughter, weeping, whirring bikes, bass drops and other assorted cacophony went silent. —

Katie Bain, Billboard, 8 Sep. 2023 Far from the bustling cacophony of cities like Tokyo, mothers here chat leisurely as their children’s laughter rings through the fields, and shrug off official hand-wringing over a dearth of youngsters. —

Elvia Limón, Los Angeles Times, 17 Aug. 2023 Note the parallels to 2023 as the Mysterium Quartet complete the mood with haunting soundscapes and cacophony. —

Ed Masley, The Arizona Republic, 4 Aug. 2023 Explosions, rocket launches, and low-flying Russian fighter jets only add to the cacophony traumatizing the dolphins, Gol’din said. —

Marc Santora, BostonGlobe.com, 17 Aug. 2023 In this way, their collective memory is effectively cut off from the cacophony of the universe. —

Charlie Wood, Quanta Magazine, 9 May 2023 With the throttle wide open, the new V-8 conjures 89 dBA of cacophony, which is within an aural hair of matching the trucklike din inside a Dodge Viper GTS. —

John Phillips, Car and Driver, 8 Aug. 2023 In a cabin in the Rocky Mountains, a murmur began to build like the jungle cacophony it was intended to mimic. —

Lisa Kennedy Shelby Knowles, New York Times, 4 Aug. 2023 The result would be a disastrous cacophony—another example of why social engineering doesn’t work. —

Readers, WSJ, 26 July 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cacophony.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French & New Latin; French cacophonie, going back to Middle French, borrowed from New Latin cacophōnia, borrowed from Greek kakophōnía, from kakóphōnos "disagreeable-sounding, cacophonous" + -ia -ia entry 1

First Known Use

circa 1656, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of cacophony was circa 1656

See more words from the same year