Discordances
This site is about writing from word to world-building: eight categories of specificity from micro to macro, which I call The Gamut. As part of analyzing words I look for what I call discordances. These are words for which the sound of the word seems to clash with its meaning.
In a related page, I’ve included resonances, which are the opposite kind of words: ones for which the meaning of each word seems in harmony with the sound of the word.
If you have suggestions for this page, please send them to me or leave a comment, but be careful to keep definitions short, as I’m truncating at two lines in the definition column per word. Likewise, if you think one of the items on the list does not deserve to be there, please leave a comment. Since I’ve been staring at these words until my eyes bug out, they may only resonate for me because I’ve been unable to disassociated the sounds of the words from the meanings I associate with them. (Does “fulsome” really have negative connotations, or has the newer, positive usage taken over, and if it does have negative connotations, is there really discord?) Suggestions are welcome!
Discordances
The table can be sorted in ascending or descending order by each of the columns by clicking on the appropriate column header once or twice, respectively. The table key is at the end of the page.
Discordances
| Word (30) | Def. | Quick Definition | PoS | Cts | Add | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ataraxia | Wik | having a peaceful mind (sounds deadly) | adj | + | 07-12 | GW |
| billingsgate | Wik | profane, abusive language (odd, not crude) | n | - | 07-12 | DD |
| blandishment | Wik | cajoling flattery (misdirection from "bland") | n | - | 08-01 | GW |
| connubial | Wik | related to marriage (naughty-sounding from "nubile" ) | adj | + | 08-01 | GW |
| divulge | Wik | to publicize (sounds negative) | v | + | 07-12 | WO |
| fictile | WN | plastic, moldable (too hard for something bendable) | adj | ~ | 08-01 | GW |
| fisticuffs | Wik | a fistfight (sounds wimpy) | n | ~ | 08-05 | MW |
| grok | Wik | understand completely, intuitively (too blunt, harsh) | v | + | 08-01 | GW |
| irredentist | Wik | agitator for return of historic territory (and tooth scraper?) | n | - | 08-05 | MW |
| jejune | WN | insubstantial, insipid, uninteresting (word is fun-looking) | adj | - | 08-05 | MW |
| limerence | Wik | state of romantic obsession with someone (too flippant) | n | + | 07-12 | OE |
| marmoreal | Wik | marble-like (too bouncy for this hard substance) | adj | ~ | 08-05 | MW |
| osculate | Wik | to kiss or touch (too harsh) | v | + | 08-01 | GW |
| palaver | WN | empty talk ('pall' and 'pale' make the word seem sick) | n | - | 08-05 | MW |
| partisan | Wik | militant supporter (not very violent, partying courtesan?) | n | - | 08-05 | MW |
| refulgent | Wik | bright and shining (too unlovely) | adj | + | 08-01 | GW |
| salient | WN | prominent, outstanding (too soft a word to stick out) | adj | + | 08-05 | MW |
| sanguine | Wik | ardent, flushed ("guine" too long and languorous) | adj | + | 08-05 | MW |
| sapid | Wik | flavorful, mentally stimulating (too close to vapid, insipid) | adj | + | 08-01 | GW |
| sapient | Wik | wise, sagacious ('p' is too hard, reminiscent of 'sap') | adj | + | 08-05 | MW |
| serpigo | Wik | skin eruption disease (too fun a word for this condition) | n | - | 08-05 | MW |
| sobriquet | Wik | familiar nickname (a long impersonal word for it) | n | + | 08-05 | MW |
| squib | Wik | firecracker (sounds like a dud) | n | ~ | 08-05 | MW |
| sumptuary | Wik | relating to expenses and law (too much like sumptuous) | adj | ~ | 07-12 | GW |
| syzygy | Wik | alignment of bodies/planets (jagged word for straight line) | n | ~ | 08-05 | MW |
| teetotaler | Wik | non-drinker (too goofy to mean sober) | n | ~ | 08-05 | MW |
| theodicy | Wik | justification of God (too much like idiocy, oddity) | n | + | 08-05 | MW |
| tmesis | Wik | usage like abso-bloody-lutely (too clinical) | n | ~ | 08-01 | GW |
| traduce | Wik | to malign (too stuffy, insufficiently hateful-sounding) | v (t) | - | 08-05 | MW |
| vitreous | Wik | glassy ('vitrol'; hard 't' seems insufficiently smooth) | adj | ~ | 08-05 | MW |
Table Key
Searchable Headings
- Word: number in parentheses is the current total number of words
- Def: A link to the full definition either from Wiktionary or the Princeton WordNet, where present
- Quick Definition: my attempt at an abbreviated definition (based on the Wiktionary entry, if available, or a few public dictionaries, if not) in no more than two lines; after each definition, I’ve included a short parenthetical segment describing why I think the sound and meanings clash
- PoS: Part of Speech (possible options are n, v, v(i), adj, intrj or a combination)
- Cts: Connotations (+, -, or ~ if neutral); I’ve tried to guess at the connotations based on how I’ve heard the word used. For example, I consider iconoclast neutral, because while it was originally negative, I’ve heard it used both ways, and mostly with positive connotations.
- Add: Date Added (Careful, this is in an unconventional YY-MM format so that the sort-by-column functionality will work properly)
- Src: Source (the source that brought this word to my attention when I was adding entries to the table)
Sources
It is important to note that these are not the exact sources of the definitions of each word–where possible, I created my quick definitions based on the Wiktionary entry. Instead, these links are my best-effort attempt to give credit to the mailing lists and other online or digital source that either reminded me or made me aware of each word.
- GW: GoodWord, word-of-the-day emails from alphaDictionary.com
- DD: Doctor Dictionary, word-of-the-day emails from Dictionary.com
- OE: Oxford English Dictionary Word List
- WN: Princeton WordNet; an online dictionary
- WO: Word Origins, a calendar of word etymologies
- MS: Microsoft Bookshelf Dictionary (1994) – which I combed for good words in college, because I’m I nerd