dissonant (adjective)
- no harmony
- disagreement that cannot be resolved
- sounds that do not sound well together
Sources: Merriam-Webster and Cambridge
In “Revision of Strategies of Student Writes and Experienced Adult Writers” by Nancy Sommers, the word dissonant is used in the sentence, “In fact, Saussure bases his entire Course in Linguistics on these differences, and such differences are dissonant; like musical dissonances which gain their significance form their relationship to the “key” of the composition which itself is determined by the whole language”.
In this case, Saussure is talking about music that doesn’t sound well together (which is the third definition), and how they clash.
Synonyms: inharmonious, off-key, discordant
