Disharmonized

Part of speech: adjective, past participle

Definitions

1. To cause sounds or elements to lose their musical or visual agreement and coherence, resulting in a lack of pleasing harmony or balance
2. To disrupt the smooth or consistent arrangement of parts or tones, creating a sense of conflict or unpleasant discord
3. To alter a composition or system in a way that produces disagreement in sound or structure, diminishing overall unity and aesthetic appeal

Etymology: "Disharmonized" is built from "disharmonize" plus the regular past tense ending "-d", so its story is really the story of "disharmonize". That verb is formed from "harmonize" with the prefix "dis-", which in English reverses or negates the action of the base word, as in "disallow" or "disconnect". "Harmonize" comes from the Greek "harmonizein", meaning to fit together or be in agreement, drawn from "harmonia", a joining or fitting together, a word rooted in the idea of parts being fastened into a whole. Putting the two halves together gives a verb meaning to undo that fitting-together, so that parts or tones which once agreed are thrown out of order. The word therefore describes a process rather than a fixed state: something is first in harmony and then made to clash. That sense of an active disturbance is what the past form carries when it describes a disharmonized orchestra, team or relationship.

Synonyms: disordered, discordant, unharmonious, clashing, conflicted

Antonyms: harmonized, coordinated, synchronized, consonant, unified