cacophony
noun
Did you know?
Cacophony Is a Noisy Word
If you’re hooked on phonetics, you may know that the Greek word phōnḗ has made a great deal of noise in English. Cacophony comes from a joining of phōnḗ ("sound" or "voice") with the Greek prefix kak- (from kakos, meaning "bad"), so it essentially means "bad sound." Other phat phōnḗ descendants include symphony, a word that indicates harmony or agreement in sound; polyphony, referring to a style of musical composition in which two or more independent melodies are juxtaposed in harmony; and euphony, a word for a pleasing or sweet sound. Kakos is responsible for far fewer English words, but one notable descendent is kakistocracy, meaning "government by the worst people," which, we'll be honest, doesn't sound great.
Synonyms
Examples of cacophony in a Sentence
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
Kayla Aletha Welch, Longreads, 19 Nov. 2024
Whenever Mia enters the frame, cacophony is guaranteed to follow her like a shadow – and this week is no exception.
—Shamira Ibrahim, Vulture, 18 Nov. 2024
Incessant and nerve-shattering, the cacophony of the sounds of war — shelling, air-raid alarms, explosions — has seemingly muffled the voices of those under Russian attack in Ukraine.
—Carlos Aguilar, Variety, 2 Nov. 2024
So how does one step out of this cacophony of online noise?
Music artist Amanda Palmer is one early example of this transformation.
—Larry Dvoskin, Rolling Stone, 25 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for cacophony 
Dictionary Entries Near cacophony
Cite this Entry
“Cacophony.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cacophony. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.
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cacophony
noun
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