dissonances

Noun

dissonance (countable and uncountable, plural dissonances)

1. A harsh, discordant combination of sounds.

   Synonyms:

   cacophony

   Antonyms:

   consonance, concordance, concord

2. Conflicting notes that are not overtones of the note or chord sounding.
3. (uncountable) A state of disagreement or conflict.
   • Cognitive dissonance exists when a person possesses two cognitions, one of which is contradictory to the other1977, Lawrence S. Wrightsman with Kay Deaux, Social Psychology, page 366

   Synonyms:

   discordance, discord, disharmony, disjunction, dispute, argument, argy-bargy, altercation, contention, barney

4. (countable) An instance of that state.
   • In this polyphony of images in the unconscious which is beyond and outside historical time, there are complex harmonies but no dissonances: the images do not clash, but that, of course, is an aesthetic judgment and not a scientific one.1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 106

   Synonyms:

   clash, dispute, argument, argy-bargy, altercation, contention, barney, bawl out, blue, bobbery