cacophony
a harsh, jarring mixture of sounds
Word origin: From Greek kakos (bad) plus phone (sound).
Cacophony in a sentence
Here are example sentences showing cacophony in a sentence.
The cacophony of car horns made conversation on the street impossible.
A cacophony of car horns and jackhammers made the open-air interview nearly impossible.
Quick GRE check
3 questions, about 2 minutes. How would you do on the real test?
Verbal · Sentence Equivalence
The professor's lectures were notoriously blank; students often left more puzzled than when they had arrived, unable to follow his tangled chains of reasoning.
Using “cacophony” well
Cacophony names a harsh, discordant clash of sounds. It can also figuratively describe a jarring mix of conflicting voices or ideas.
More GRE words starting with C
a small secret group plotting against a government or authority
having a hidden or mysterious meaning understood only by initiates
to obtain something by begging or sponging off others
falling off or shed at an early stage, especially of plant parts
to coax someone into doing something through flattery or persuasion
an event causing great damage, loss, or distress
misty, dim, or dark, and therefore obscure
gymnastic exercises designed to develop physical fitness and grace of movement, performed using the body's own weight
Questions about “cacophony”
See these words the way the GRE tests them.
Take the free 39-minute GRE Quick Mock Test and meet words like this inside real Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence questions, with a worked solution for every answer.