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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

cacophony en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • kə-kŏf′ə-nē
  • /kəˈkɑfəni/ (US)
  • (Australia) audio
  • /kəˈkɒfəni/ (UK)
  • (US) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree Ancient Greek κᾰκός (kăkós) Ancient Greek κακο- (kako-) Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂-der. Proto-Hellenic *pʰōnā́ Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ) Ancient Greek -ος (-os) Ancient Greek κᾰκόφωνος (kăkóphōnos) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā) Ancient Greek κᾰκοφωνῐ́ᾱ (kăkophōnĭ́ā)bor. French cacophonieder. English cacophony From French cacophonie, from Ancient Greek κακοφωνία (kakophōnía), from κακός (kakós, “bad”) + φωνή (phōnḗ, “sound”), equivalent to caco- + -phony.

Meanings

  1. (countable, uncountable) A mix of discordant sounds; dissonance.
    • A blistering start from the Scots served to steady the ship amid a cacophony that defied the quarter-full national stadium. 2021 June 14, Scott Mullen, “Scotland 0-2 Czech Republic”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 24 Jan 2022:
    • 1921-1922, H. P. Lovecraft, Herbert West: Reanimator, Not more unutterable could have been the chaos of hellish sound if the pit itself had opened to release the agony of the damned, for in one inconceivable cacophony was centered all the supernal terror and unnatural despair of animate nature.
    • The Japanese got their attack in first. About ten minutes after passing the U.S. aircraft, they spotted Hornet (local weather patterns temporarily concealing Enterprise). Things had improved a little bit compared to the Eastern Solomons, and three dozen F4F Wildcats on combat air patrol were vectored onto the oncoming hostiles, but once that initial task was accomplished, things began to collapse back into the cacophony and chaos that was all too familiar to those aboard the Enterprise, meaning that the end result was round about the same[…] 2021 February 3, Drachinifel, 10:55 from the start, in Guadalcanal Campaign - Santa Cruz (IJN 2 : 2 USN), archived from the original on 04 Dec 2022:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
cacophonies Number=Plur lexicographic

Antonyms

euphony · harmony

Deriveds

cacophonical · castrophony · cacophonic · cacophonous

Hypernyms

disorder · sound

Relateds

dissonance · harshness · din · anthropophony · harmony · cacophonous

Synonyms

ear rape · discordance · caterwauling · dyscrasy · cacophony · dissonancy · dissonance · disharmony · discord · discordancy · inharmony

Translations (41)

sk kakofónia (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · cs kakofonie (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · fi kakofonia (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · tl dihunig (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · cy amherseinedd (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · cmn 雜音 /杂音 (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · el κακοφωνία (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · nn kakofoni (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · mi pararētanga (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · pt cacofonia (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · bg неблагозвучие (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · pl kakofonia (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · de Kakophonie (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · fr cacophonie (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · da kakofoni (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · eo malbelsoneco (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · mi tātākī (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · it cacofonia (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · gl cacofonía (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · vo mimusig (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · sq kakofoni (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · sv kakofoni (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · eo malbonsoneco (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · ro cacofonie (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · ka კაკაფონია (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · ru какофо́ния (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · mk какофо́нија (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · es cacofonía (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · de Kakofonie (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · he קקופוניה (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · nb kakofoni (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · nl kakofonie (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · uk какофонія (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · ca cacofonia (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · de Katzenmusik (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · ja 不協和音 (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · fa صدای گوشخراش (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · cmn 不協和音 /不协和音 (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · bg какофония (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · gu કર્કશોચ્ચાર (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance) · mi matioke (mix of discordant sounds; dissonance)