dissonance
/ˈdɪsənəns/noun
dissonance is spelled D-I-S-S-O-N-A-N-C-E: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.0 times per million words in written English, the 28,214th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, dissonance means “A harsh, discordant combination of sounds” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of dissonance is dissonances.
How many letters and syllables are in dissonance?
| Letters | 10: D-I-S-S-O-N-A-N-C-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.0 times per million words; the 28,214th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is dissonance?
Dissonance appears 1.0 times per million words in written English, the 28,214th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce dissonance?
- US /ˈdɪsənəns/
- US /ˈdɪsənɪns/
Dissonance has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-dissonance.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of dissonance
- dissonances plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does dissonance mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A harsh, discordant combination of sounds.
- 2
Conflicting notes that are not overtones of the note or chord sounding.
- 3
A state of disagreement or conflict.
- 4
An instance of that state.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Dissonance in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Dissonanz |
| Spanish | disonancia |
| French | dissonance |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does dissonance come from?
Borrowed from Middle French dissonance, from Latin dissonantia; by surface analysis, dis- + son- + -ance.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).