Standard Lemma guide

cacophony

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /kəˈkɒfəni/
  • US: /kəˈkɑfəni/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɒfəni
  • CMU ARPABET: K AE0 K AA1 F AH0 N IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A mix of discordant sounds; dissonance.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • 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.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

loud confusing disagreeable sounds

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: dissonance

3

noun

Meaning 3

a loud harsh or strident noise

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: blare, blaring, clamor, din

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: noise

History

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.

Across languages

Translations

41 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: kakofoni — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Bulgarian: какофония (kakofonija) — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Bulgarian: неблагозвучие (neblagozvučie) — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Catalan: cacofonia — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Chinese Mandarin: 不協和音 /不协和音 (bùxiéhéyīn) — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Chinese Mandarin: 雜音 /杂音 (záyīn) — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Czech: kakofonie — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Danish: kakofoni — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Dutch: kakofonie — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Esperanto: malbelsoneco — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Esperanto: malbonsoneco — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Finnish: kakofonia — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • French: cacophonie — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Galician: cacofonía — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Georgian: კაკაფონია (ḳaḳaponia) — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • German: Kakophonie — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • German: Kakofonie — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • German: Katzenmusik — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Greek: κακοφωνία (kakofonía) — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Gujarati: કર્કશોચ્ચાર (karkaśoccār) — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Hebrew: קקופוניה (kakofonyah) — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Italian: cacofonia — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Japanese: 不協和音 (fukyō waon) — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Macedonian: какофо́нија (kakofónija) — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Māori: pararētanga — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Māori: matioke — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Māori: tātākī — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Norwegian Bokmål: kakofoni — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: kakofoni — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Persian: صدای گوشخراش (sedâ-ye guš-xarâš) — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Polish: kakofonia — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Portuguese: cacofonia — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Romanian: cacofonie — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Russian: какофо́ния (kakofónija) — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Slovak: kakofónia — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Spanish: cacofonía — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Swedish: kakofoni — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Tagalog: dihunig — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Ukrainian: какофонія (kakofonija) — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Volapük: mimusig — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance
  • Welsh: amherseinedd — mix of discordant sounds; dissonance