dissonant

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 16, 2007 is: dissonant • \DISS-uh-nunt\ • adjective 1 : marked by lack of agreement : discordant 2 : incongruous 3 : harmonically unresolved Examples: "The beautiful tuna had been cooked to dry dullness, and the bitter baby bok choy was alarmingly dissonant with the sauce." (Patricia Greathouse, Santa Fe New Mexican, August 4, 2006) Did you know? The root of "dissonant" is the Latin verb "sonare." Can you guess what "sonare" means? Here's a hint: some related derivatives are "sonata," "supersonic," and "resonance." Does it sound to you as if "sonare" has something to do with sound? If so, you're right. In fact, "sonare" means "to sound," is related to the Latin noun "sonus" (meaning "sound"), and is an ancestor of the English word "sound." "Dissonant" includes the negative prefix "dis-." What is "dissonant," therefore, sounds inharmonic, conflicting, or clashing. *Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.