cacophonous
harsh or unpleasant-sounding
Roots
- -ous / -ious: full of or marked by a quality
- caco-: bad, harsh, or ugly
- phon: sound or voice
Other words with the caco- root
- cacophony: a harsh mixture of sounds
Other words with the phon root
Cacophonous is the adjective form: a room, sentence, or argument can sound jagged enough to make listening hard.
The meeting turned cacophonous once everyone argued at the same time.
Cacophonous takes cacophony and turns it into a describing word. If cacophony is the ugly sound itself, cacophonous is the label you put on whatever makes that sound.