dissonant
/ˈdɪsənənt/adjective
dissonant is spelled D-I-S-S-O-N-A-N-T: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 51,738th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, dissonant means “Exhibiting dissonance; not agreeing; not harmonizing or melodizing” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in dissonant?
| Letters | 9: D-I-S-S-O-N-A-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 51,738th 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 dissonant?
Dissonant appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 51,738th 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 dissonant?
- UK /ˈdɪsənənt/
Dissonant 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-dissonant.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of dissonant
- more dissonant comparative
- most dissonant superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does dissonant mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Exhibiting dissonance; not agreeing; not harmonizing or melodizing.
The music was filled with dissonant chords.
- 2
Exhibiting dissonance; not agreeing or harmonizing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Dissonant in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense music:
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 dissonant come from?
From Middle French dissonant.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).