Literary notes about Cacophonous (AI summary)
The term "cacophonous" is widely employed in literature to evoke sensation of discord and harsh auditory disarray. Writers use it to describe everything from volatile and ever-shifting language that misguides with its disarray [1] to unnerving urban clamor marked by jarring mechanical sounds and whirring shells [2, 3]. It is also applied to characterize musical and verbal expressions that seem overly noisy or unrefined—whether referring to a boisterous serenade or a string of undignified names [4, 5, 6]—and even extends to traditional criticisms of style and taste in artistic endeavors [7, 8]. This versatility allows "cacophonous" to function as a succinct critique of both literal sound and broader cultural disorder [9, 10].
- Nomenclature, which changes from day to day and becomes more and more cacophonous, is an unsafe guide.
— from The Wonders of Instinct: Chapters in the Psychology of Insects by Jean-Henri Fabre - Shouts and jeers and horns; the roaring scream of fire engines; people running and shouting; Ventura at Laurel Canyon was a cacophonous maelstrom.
— from The Glory of Ippling by Helen M. Urban - The fighting elsewhere continued with considerable heat, and the long day was vibrant with the brawl of big guns and the cacophonous whirr of shells.
— from South Africa and the Transvaal War, Vol. 5 (of 8) From the Disaster at Koorn Spruit to Lord Roberts's Entry into Pretoria by Louis Creswicke - In Orocué they always began their cacophonous serenade at nightfall, and kept it up uninterruptedly until the following morning.
— from Up the Orinoco and down the Magdalena by J. A. (John Augustine) Zahm - The dislike to vulgar and cacophonous names led some scholars and others, at an early period, to adopt Greek or Latin forms.
— from Words; Their Use and Abuse by William Mathews - Mr. Landon Ronald expressed sympathy with musicians who were handicapped by cacophonous or undignified names.
— from Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 146, April 1, 1914 by Various - And the agitators against Beethoven, Bach, Brahms, Wagner, Richard Strauss, all the rest of the cacophonous Huns?
— from Prejudices, Third Series by H. L. (Henry Louis) Mencken - There is no such thing as a singly euphonious or a singly cacophonous name.
— from Yet Again by Beerbohm, Max, Sir - It kicked into reverse, spun around, and disappeared into the night in a cacophonous squeal of metal, rubber, and asphalt.
— from Take Me for a Ride: Coming of Age in a Destructive Cult by Mark E. Laxer - It seemed ever haunted by the Banshee of Noise, and disturbed by the cacophonous ghosts of dead Echoes.
— from Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 104, April 8, 1893 by Various
