Cacophonize

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To render or produce an unpleasant or harsh mixture of sounds; to make something jarringly discordant in tone or noise; to transform auditory elements into a grating or clashing combination
2. To cause a harsh, dissonant auditory effect by blending incompatible sounds; to alter a sound or environment so that it becomes unpleasantly noisy; to impose a cacophonous quality on an otherwise harmonious context
3. To create a jarring or discordant audio result by combining or modifying sounds harshly; to generate a noisy, conflicting acoustic effect; to change sound patterns into a rough, unpleasant mixture of tones

Etymology: Ancient Greek speakers built "kakophonia" from "kakos," meaning bad or ugly, and "phone," meaning voice or sound. That same "phone" appears in "symphony" and "telephone," which literally means "distant sound." The Greek noun described harsh, discordant noise, and it judged the sound as unpleasant rather than merely loud. English borrowed the noun through Late Latin, and it later became the source for the verb cacophonize. The verb adds the suffix "-ize," which comes from Greek "-izein" by way of Latin and turns a noun into a verb meaning "to make into" or "to cause to be." To cacophonize is therefore to make a harsh, discordant sound, and it is a straightforward English formation on a Greek base.

Synonyms: disrupt, distort, discord, jangle, jar

Antonyms: harmonize, melodize, synchronize, unify, compose