Definition

1. Noun:
   • A state of disagreement or conflict between people or things: Discordance refers to a lack of harmony or agreement, often leading to tension or strife.
   • A harsh, unpleasant mixture of sounds: In music or acoustics, discordance describes sounds that clash and are not pleasing to the ear.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:
  • The discordance among the committee members prevented any decision from being made.
  • The discordance in the orchestra's tuning was immediately noticeable to the audience.

Advanced Usage

• "To be in discordance with": To be in a state of disagreement or conflict with something.
  • His actions were in complete discordance with his stated principles.
• Statistical/Biological Discordance: Used in specialized fields to describe a mismatch or lack of correlation.
  • The study noted a discordance between the genetic test results and the patient's physical symptoms.

Variants and Related Words

• Discordant (adj): Lacking in harmony; conflicting.
  • The discordant opinions led to a lengthy debate.
• Discord (n): Disagreement; strife. (Note: This is a closely related but distinct word.)
  • Political discord divided the nation.

Synonyms

• Dissonance: A tension or clash resulting from the combination of disharmonious elements, especially sounds.
• Strike: Angry or bitter disagreement over fundamental issues; conflict.
• Cacophony: A harsh, discordant mixture of sounds.

Antonyms

• Harmony: The combination of simultaneously sounded musical notes to produce a pleasing effect; agreement or concord.
• Concord: Agreement or harmony between people or groups.
• Consonance: Agreement or compatibility between opinions or actions; a pleasant combination of musical sounds.

Related Phrases

• A note of discordance: An element that introduces disagreement or conflict into a situation.
  • His criticism introduced a note of discordance into the otherwise friendly discussion.

Noun

1. strife resulting from a lack of agreement
2. a harsh mixture of sounds