dissonance

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

For some, the LP may be gorgeous to a fault—musically, there’s very little friction or dissonance on the album, nothing harsh to dislodge you from the spell the record casts.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026

“Here Lies Love” seemed to want its audience to leave with an aftertaste of cognitive dissonance.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 20, 2026

The tension between the two synthetics provides a delicious dissonance, making for a “Predator” film that leans hard into camp territory, with Fanning eating up every frame.

From Salon • Jan. 24, 2026

I predicted this miserable state of affairs back in 2017, after interviewing psychology experts on cognitive dissonance.

From Salon • Jan. 19, 2026

Moving from a dissonance to the consonance that is expected to follow it is called resolution, or resolving the dissonance.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones