dissonance
nounUK, US /ˈdɪsənəns/
Etymology Borrowed from Middle French dissonance, from Latin dissonantia; by surface analysis, dis- + son- + -ance.
1
A harsh, discordant combination of sounds.
2
Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music Conflicting notes that are not overtones of the note or chord sounding.
3
A state of disagreement or conflict.
- Cognitive dissonance exists when a person possesses two cognitions, one of which is contradictory to the other1977, Lawrence S. Wrightsman with Kay Deaux, Social Psychology, page 366:
4
An instance of that state.
- In this polyphony of images in the unconscious which is beyond and outside historical time, there are complex harmonies but no dissonances: the images do not clash, but that, of course, is an aesthetic judgment and not a scientific one.1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 106:
- Derived terms
- cognitive dissonance, critical dissonance, dissonancy, dissonant, lyrical dissonance