The Economic Times

Dissonant: Today's word of the day meaning, how to use it in a sentence, origin and related terms

Word of the day: The Latin roots of dissonant trace back to dis- and sonare, literally meaning sounds that fall apart from one another. Composers have long used dissonant chords deliberately, creating tension before resolving it into harmony. Beyond music, the term extends into everyday language to describe clashing opinions, and forms the basis of cognitive dissonance, a widely referenced concept in psychology describing the discomfort of holding contradictory beliefs.