discord 1 of 2

discord

2 of 2

verb

as in to conflict
to be out of harmony or agreement usually noticeably the evangelist's lavish lifestyle discords with his professed religious beliefs

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How does the noun discord contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of discord are conflict, contention, dissension, strife, and variance. While all these words mean "a state or condition marked by a lack of agreement or harmony," discord implies an intrinsic or essential lack of harmony producing quarreling, factiousness, or antagonism.

a political party long racked by discord

When can conflict be used instead of discord?

The words conflict and discord can be used in similar contexts, but conflict usually stresses the action of forces in opposition but in static applications implies an irreconcilability as of duties or desires.

the conflict of freedom and responsibility

When is it sensible to use contention instead of discord?

The meanings of contention and discord largely overlap; however, contention applies to strife or competition that shows itself in quarreling, disputing, or controversy.

several points of contention about the new zoning law

When would dissension be a good substitute for discord?

In some situations, the words dissension and discord are roughly equivalent. However, dissension implies strife or discord and stresses a division into factions.

religious dissension threatened to split the colony

When could strife be used to replace discord?

While the synonyms strife and discord are close in meaning, strife emphasizes a struggle for superiority rather than the incongruity or incompatibility of the persons or things involved.

during his brief reign the empire was never free of civil strife

When is variance a more appropriate choice than discord?

Although the words variance and discord have much in common, variance implies a clash between persons or things owing to a difference in nature, opinion, or interest.

cultural variances that work against a national identity

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of discord
Noun
Tustin discord on a 75-yard, seven-play drive in the first half’s final 59 seconds. Steve Fryer, Oc Register, 22 Aug. 2025 The Rafael Devers discord is in the wind now, and the young Red Sox are right in the mix for an American League wild-card spot. Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2025 Leaders of the international Reform and Progressive Judaism movement expressed their dismay over such a public display of internal discord. Andrew Silow-Carroll, Sun Sentinel, 19 Aug. 2025 Original bassist and background-singer Kim Deal left in 2013 due to reported creative discord, finding success with The Breeders and in her solo career. Olivia Petty, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for discord
Recent Examples of Synonyms for discord
Noun
  • That moment of silence itself soon erupted into House strife, with shouting on the floor.
    Alexis Simendinger, The Hill, 11 Sep. 2025
  • Against the backdrop of the golden sand dunes in Ninh Thuan province, family strife boils over when a son’s dream to dance to the beat of his own heart pits him against his father’s wishes.
    Nancy Tartaglione, Deadline, 10 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The story follows five unqualified astronauts chasing wealth on a planet made of diamonds and gold, with greed and conflicting testimonies driving the tension.
    Charlie Fink, Forbes.com, 6 Sep. 2025
  • That order conflicted with the state’s code, however, and in March, legislators rejected a bill that would have weakened that law and codified religious exemptions to vaccination.
    Brenda Goodman, CNN Money, 5 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • That means that the iX3 will regeneratively brake for the overwhelming majority of the time—just 5–10 percent of braking events should require the friction brakes, we're told.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin, ArsTechnica, 5 Sep. 2025
  • Entrenched Chinese foreign policy positions, including territorial disputes and industrial subsidies that have flooded foreign markets with cheap exports, will likely remain friction points, experts say, while India's deep distrust of China will not dissipate because of one brief meeting.
    James Pomfret, USA Today, 5 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • That event was still beset by confrontations, with someone jumping on a police officer, protesters smashing glass panes in the doors of the venue and members of the Proud Boys – a far-right group – clashing with demonstrators, according to local media reports.
    Curt Devine, CNN Money, 12 Sep. 2025
  • Cosmists who believed in technology as a messianic force clashed not just with the Svyatogor camp, but also with the communists, whose guiding ideology of Marxism-Leninism was predicated on the dismantling of age-old social systems to establish a novel world order.
    Tim Brinkhof, Big Think, 12 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • The sport of off-roading suffers from a fundamental discordance: The desire to get out into nature and the irreparable harm inherent in the process of off-roading.
    Tim Stevens, ArsTechnica, 25 July 2025
  • Many of the tunes including sprawling intros and jam sessions, all melded together with discordance, reverb and instrumental solos.
    Audrey Gibbs, The Tennessean, 2 July 2025
Noun
  • This time, though, the schisms between the CDC and the states and professional societies go far beyond the timing of an additional dose of vaccine.
    Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 5 Sep. 2025
  • The schism that Hazony sounded his alarm about is very far from the present for the Republican Party.
    David Weigel, semafor.com, 3 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • All Quiet on the Western Front is a visually graphic portrayal of the horrors of war, earning four Academy Awards in 2023 — including Best International Feature Film.
    Jacqueline Weiss, PEOPLE, 7 Sep. 2025
  • Presumably, this is because those players lost their ‘development’ period — their early teenage years — to the war.
    Michael Cox, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • The discordancy is so intriguing — like learning that Katharine Graham went to nude encounter sessions at Esalen, or Alan Greenspan was once in a Lynyrd Skynyrd cover band.
    New York Times, New York Times, 17 Nov. 2021

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Discord.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/discord. Accessed 14 Sep. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on discord

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!