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
Simon Montlake, The Christian Science Monitor, 1 Nov. 2024
The cacophony of Ho Chi Minh is both life-affirming and draining.
—Richard Quest, CNN, 6 Oct. 2024
Such experts would balance out the cacophony of lobbyists trying to frame how lawmakers understand technology.
—Marietje Schaake, Foreign Affairs, 26 Sep. 2024
That’s not to mention the stunning bi-modal exhaust note, which starts as a deep grumble then swells into a growing cacophony higher up into the tachometer.
—Michael Van Runkle, Robb Report, 2 Nov. 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 29 Nov. 2024.
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cacophony
noun
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